Delta just scheduled its shortest Airbus A350 international route
Delta's flagship aircraft, the Airbus A350, will soon be flying a new international route.
The Atlanta-based carrier filed plans over the weekend to deploy the A350 on its daily service from Atlanta to Lima, Peru, as first seen in Cirium schedules and later confirmed by the carrier. The airline will continue flying the Boeing 767-300 to the Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) through Feb. 15, 2023, after which it'll start deploying the A350 on this service.
Interestingly, the Lima service won't be flown by Delta's most premium A350. The carrier offers two configurations of the Airbus wide-body jet: one that features the signature Delta One Suites and Premium Select products and another that the airline acquired used from LATAM that still features the carrier's legacy two-cabin configuration.
These ex-LATAM A350s are currently outfitted with 30 Delta One seats in a forward-facing 2-2-2 configuration, along with 63 Comfort+ seats and 246 standard Main Cabin ones.
Delta eventually plans to retrofit these planes into its signature A350 configuration, but for now, you'll find the old LATAM seats reupholstered in Delta's color palette flying to Lima (and elsewhere). While the business-class product isn't nearly as spacious or private as Delta One Suites, it does offer one of the most comfortable lie-flat beds in the Delta fleet.
This move represents a major upgauge for the Atlanta to Lima service. Previously, the Boeing 767-300 operating the route featured a total of 226 seats, while the high-density ex-LATAM A350 features 339 seats, which is a roughly 50% increase.
For families and couples traveling together, the 2-2-2 business-class configuration may actually be an improvement over the airline's aging 1-2-1 product on the 767-300 fleet.
While the Lima route will be Delta's shortest international one operated by an A350, the airline regularly flies this jet on much shorter domestic missions during downtime or to reposition the aircraft between long-haul flights.
Flying on a wide-body plane on short domestic and international routes is a great way to experience an upgraded product without a major splurge for a long-haul ticket.
The Atlanta to Lima route is blocked at six hours and 30 minutes and covers a point-to-point distance of 3,177 miles.
You'll find a full breakdown of Delta's international Airbus A350 routes at the bottom of this post.
Delta's Airbus A350 international routes by distance
| Origin | Destination | Cabin | Distance (miles) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATL | LIM | ex-LATAM A350 | 3,177 |
| ATL | DUB | ex-LATAM A350 | 3,938 |
| DTW | AMS | Signature A350 | 3,940 |
| DTW | CDG | Signature A350 | 3,962 |
| ATL | AMS | Signature A350 | 4,401 |
| ATL | SCL | ex-LATAM A350 | 4,695 |
| ATL | FCO | Signature A350 | 5,035 |
| LAX | HND | Signature A350 | 5,488 |
| MSP | ICN | Signature A350 | 6,248 |
| DTW | HND | Signature A350 | 6,428 |
| ATL | TLV | ex-LATAM A350 | 6,437 |
| DTW | ICN | Signature A350 | 6,637 |
| DTW | PKX | Signature A350 | 6,672 |
| ATL | HND | Signature A350 | 6,883 |
| DTW | PVG | Signature A350 | 7,137 |
| ATL | ICN | Signature A350 | 7,153 |
| LAX | SYD | Signature A350 | 7,487 |
| ATL | CPT | Signature A350 | 8,127 |
| ATL | JNB | Signature A350 | 8,433 |