The Atlanta-based carrier announced Friday that it will launch a 4,336-mile route from Orlando International Airport (MCO) to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR). Seasonal flights will begin Oct. 26, 2024, and run through March 29, 2025.
Delta will operate the route four times weekly using its 281-seat Airbus A330-900neo; it features 29 Delta One Suites, 28 Premium Select recliners, 56 Comfort+ extra-legroom seats and 168 standard economy seats.
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The eastbound flight will depart at 10:35 p.m. and arrive in London at 11:40 a.m. the next day, all times local. The flight will return to Orlando at 4 p.m. and land at 8:20 p.m.
In addition to the new long-haul flight, Delta is also adding three routes to Salt Lake City from New York City, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
The latter two flights will operate daily beginning Nov. 23. Both will be operated by a Boeing 737-800.
The New York City-to-Salt Lake City route — which will depart from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) — will only operate on Saturdays due to LGA's perimeter rule. The rule restricts the distance of nonstop flights from the airport, except on Saturdays.
This route was last operated from July 2023 to March 2024. Delta said it's bringing the flight back for the ski season and to give travelers more nonstop options from the New York City area to the growing Salt Lake City region.
Delta is also expanding south of the border with two routes from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP). This includes nonstop service on Fridays and Sundays to Aruba. This seasonal route will run from Dec. 20 to April 13. (Note that this service was last operated in March 2020.)
The airline will also start flying from MSP to Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) in St. Martin on Thursdays and Saturdays from Dec. 19 through April 12. This represents a route resumption from 2017, Cirium schedules show.
Of all the announcements, perhaps the biggest news is in Orlando. Delta's joint venture partner, Virgin Atlantic, already flies from Orlando to London (as do British Airways and Norse), but this will be Delta's first foray into the market.
Even though Orlando isn't a hub for Delta, this new flight won't be the airline's first transatlantic route from Mickey Mouse's stomping grounds. Delta already operates a flight from Orlando to Amsterdam, a service that began in March 2018 and continues to fly during the winter season.
Delta's Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic transatlantic joint venture partnerships help make these flights to key European hubs more attractive, and it's a strategy that has seemingly worked for the airline in other cities.
In fact, just last month, Delta announced it would launch its 10th route to Amsterdam — from Tampa. This city also isn't a Delta hub, but the joint venture with Dutch flag carrier KLM will help the airline fill seats on its planes for those wishing to connect to KLM flights beyond Amsterdam.
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This is likely the exact same strategy that Delta hopes will help it fill the 281 seats to London.
Delta already flies to London from most of its hubs, including Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York City, Salt Lake City and Seattle.
"Our new route between Orlando and London seamlessly connects two diverse destinations, offering customers a wealth of experiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Floridians can explore London’s historic landmarks like Buckingham Palace and enjoy world-class dining, while Londoners can escape to the sunny beaches and world-famous attractions of Orlando," Matteo Curcio —Delta’s senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India — said in a statement.
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