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DETROIT Delta Air Lines plans to announce a new wave of international flights on Tuesday that the troubled carrier said would make it the biggest airline flying across the Atlantic.
Once trans-Atlantic service to and from cities like Edinburgh, Budapest and Venice begins next year, Delta said, it will surpass competitors like American Airlines, British Airways and Continental Airlines.
Delta's new international flights are the latest sign of a growing revival of international service by U.S. carriers, who significantly cut back their overseas routes after the September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
Over all, major U.S. airlines are offering 167 international routes this year, the most since they served 175 overseas routes in 2000, according to an estimate by Back Aviation Solutions, an industry consulting firm.
Profits are up 5.8 percent on trans-Atlantic routes this year. By contrast, airlines have seen their profits drop 0.8 percent on domestic routes, according to Back Aviation. That is one reason all of the major U.S. airlines that serve international routes have said they plan to add more flights overseas.
"International markets have had far better pricing power than domestic markets," said Michael Allen, Back Aviation's chief operating officer.
Delta said it would serve 11 new markets by next summer from two airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, where Delta is based. Most of the services will begin in time for summer, said Glen Hauenstein, a Delta executive vice president.
Delta's announcement comes just over a month after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The airline has already begun cutting back on some of its domestic services and is shifting other flights to regional carriers like Comair and SkyWest so it can focus on more international flights.
In May, Delta plans to add flights from New York to Manchester, Budapest, and Dublin and Shannon, Ireland. In June, it plans to add service from New York to Kiev, contingent on government approval. Flights from Atlanta to Edinburgh, Nice, Venice and Athens will start in May.
Delta had previously announced other new routes from Atlanta, including flights to Tel Aviv, which begin in March, Düsseldorf starting in April, and Copenhagen starting in May.
It will also add another summer-only flight from Atlanta to Shannon, and it will add extra service from New York to Rome.
Allen of Back Aviation said that by announcing the flights far in advance, Delta can begin collecting ticket revenue now, giving it more cash to get through the early months of bankruptcy. The new service also gives passengers an incentive to keep booking tickets.
But as more airlines add international flights, the advantage any one company can claim will diminish, Allen said. "Everybody can't keep racing to add international service" because profits will eventually fall, he said.
DETROIT Delta Air Lines plans to announce a new wave of international flights on Tuesday that the troubled carrier said would make it the biggest airline flying across the Atlantic.
Once trans-Atlantic service to and from cities like Edinburgh, Budapest and Venice begins next year, Delta said, it will surpass competitors like American Airlines, British Airways and Continental Airlines.
Delta's new international flights are the latest sign of a growing revival of international service by U.S. carriers, who significantly cut back their overseas routes after the September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.
Over all, major U.S. airlines are offering 167 international routes this year, the most since they served 175 overseas routes in 2000, according to an estimate by Back Aviation Solutions, an industry consulting firm.
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