Delta adds 2 new long-haul routes from Seattle, ups ante against rival Alaska

Even though this summer season is just kicking off, Delta Air Lines is already thinking about next summer (and its big competitor in Seattle).

Delta announced Tuesday that it'll add two new long-haul routes from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

The airline will commence service from Seattle to Barcelona and Rome next summer. Four-times weekly flights from SEA to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO) will begin May 6, while service from SEA to Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN) will take off one day later on a three-times weekly basis.

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It wasn't immediately clear if Delta plans to operate both routes year-round or just seasonally, but the airline did say that the flights will operate daily.

Both routes will operate on an Airbus A330-900neo aircraft — one of Delta's newest and most premium international planes.

It features 29 Delta One suites, 28 Premium Select recliners, 56 Comfort+ extra-legroom economy seats and 168 standard coach seats.

Over the past decade, Delta has launched 28 new markets in Seattle and now operates nearly 180 peak-day departures to more than 60 destinations worldwide.

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While the news is undoubtedly exciting for Seattle-based flyers, it comes on the heels of hometown carrier Alaska Airlines announcing its first-ever European route launching next summer.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Alaska plans to connect Seattle with Rome, meaning that the Pacific Northwest will go from never having a nonstop connection to Rome to having two daily nonstop flights next summer.

While Rome and Barcelona are two popular European destinations, it seems like more than just market demand is dictating which service Delta is adding from Seattle.

For years, Delta and Alaska have been going head to head in Seattle. Ever since the two carriers called off their codeshare alliance in 2017 and Delta decided to open a hub in Seattle, the two airlines have continued to one-up each other in the Pacific Northwest.

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Delta has been adding new routes, running local marketing campaigns and even building swanky lounges to woo locals to choose it over the competition.

In fact, this new network expansion was announced in tandem with the opening of the all-new Delta One Lounge at SEA, as well as the airport's second Sky Club.

"With the addition of Rome and Barcelona, we'll serve eight of the top 10 long-haul international destinations from Seattle," explained Paul Baldoni, Delta's senior vice president of network planning, in an interview with TPG. (The missing two: Delhi and Manila)

Meanwhile, Alaska Airlines has ambitions to grow from a regional carrier to a global one. The airline acquired Hawaiian Airlines last year and has committed to turning Seattle into a global gateway, thanks in part to the wide-body aircraft it'll inherit from Hawaiian.

Alaska Airlines has already started flying from Seattle to Tokyo with Hawaiian planes, and the airline wants to add at least 12 long-haul destinations from Seattle by 2030.

At the end of the day, it's the local population that'll benefit from the increased competition in Seattle. Delta (and Alaska) are pulling out all the stops in the competition, and — in the process — are dramatically expanding the number of routes flown from Seattle.

"We compete with a lot of carriers in a lot of different places. New York is competitive. Boston is competitive. Seattle is competitive. What we focus on is how do we make the customer experience the best that it possibly can be. If we do that, we know that customers will come to us," Baldoni said.

Delta's new flights are expected to go on sale by Monday, June 30.

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• How to survive basic economy on Delta Air Lines