Delta orders 31 long-range Airbus jets with an eye on premium seats
Delta Air Lines has ordered 31 more wide-body Airbus jets to boost its intercontinental fleet.
The Atlanta-based carrier added 16 A330-900s and 15 A350-900s to its orderbook with Airbus on Tuesday, the planemaker said in a statement. Deliveries will begin in 2029.
The deal comes amid Delta's heavy investment in its future intercontinental fleet. A number of the long-haul planes it flies today, particularly the Boeing 767s that ply the skies over the Atlantic Ocean, are more than a quarter-century old. Aircraft are typically retired and replaced by the time they hit 25 or 30 years of age, though they can continue flying for longer with proper maintenance.
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Earlier in January, Delta ordered up to 60 Boeing 787-10s for the same purpose: to replace older twin-aisle planes once deliveries begin in 2031.
All of these new planes help turn Delta's premium product push into reality. The 787-10, for example, provides more space between the front two doors to sell more Delta One business-class suites. That, in turn, opens up extra floor space behind the second door for profitable premium economy seats.
Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta, indicated the same is possible with the new A330s and A350s that the airline ordered on Tuesday.
"As we grow our international footprint and prepare our fleet to serve expanded long-haul markets, these aircraft will enhance our capabilities and elevate our premium offerings," he said in a statement.
And the A330-900s and A350-900s can fly just about anywhere on Delta's map. The airline uses the former exclusively to Europe and South America — they also flew to Asia in years past — and the latter to Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.
With its latest deal, Delta now has outstanding Airbus orders for 16 A330-900s, 19 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s, based on the planemaker's year-end order numbers.
Delta's wide-body fleet included 121 A330s and A350s, and 60 767s at the end of December, airline and Airbus data shows.
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