Delta Expands Transatlantic Network, Adds Seven New Routes | Aviation Week Network (original) (raw)

Delta Air Lines’ summer 2025 transatlantic schedule will include seven new routes, including its first-ever nonstop service to Catania, Sicily.

The airline plans to add flights to cities such as Barcelona, Brussels, Dublin and Milan, while also expanding frequencies on five existing routes. Atlanta and Boston will each receive two new connections, while Delta’s hubs in Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) will each see one.

“With over 700 weekly flights to 33 European destinations and beyond, we’re expanding access to key cities like Barcelona and Dublin with new routes,” says Joe Esposito, Delta senior vice president of network planning.

The new daily service from New York JFK to Catania, launching in May 2025, positions Delta as the first U.S. airline to operate direct flights to this previously underserved destination. The move will increase the SkyTeam alliance member’s Italian network to five points, joining Milan Malpensa, Naples, Rome Fiumicino and Venice Marco Polo.

Delta is also enhancing connectivity to Italy with the introduction of 4X-weekly service from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Naples, complementing existing flights from New York JFK. This route aims to facilitate travel to the Amalfi Coast and historic sites like Pompeii.

Additionally, service is being opened from Boston Logan International Airport to Milan Malpensa Airport and from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Rome Fiumicino. Both routes will operate four times per week. Frequencies will also be increased between Atlanta and Rome, rising by three flights per week to 17X-weekly.

Elsewhere, the carrier’s European network will see the introduction of a route between Atlanta and Brussels, joining New York JFK-Brussels as its second route to the Belgian capital, as well as between Boston and Barcelona. Delta already serves the Spanish city from Atlanta and New York JFK.

The seventh new route launching next summer will commence in May, linking Detroit and Dublin four times per week. The addition will mean Delta serves Ireland’s capital from five of its hubs—Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and New York. Detroit will also see flights to Munich rise to daily, but the existing 3X-weekly New York JFK-Munich service is being cut as a result.

Three other routes from Atlanta will also receive additional frequencies, with service to Athens and Barcelona rising from daily to 11X-weekly and 10X-weekly, respectively, and Atlanta-Zurich growing from 3X-weekly to daily.

Delta has some 9.22 million two-way seats available between the U.S. and Europe during the summer 2024 season, making it the largest operator of capacity, ahead of United Airlines on 9.18 million seats. Delta’s largest European market this summer is the Netherlands, followed by France and Italy.

Earlier this month, American Airlines announced five new routes to Europe for summer 2025, including a return to Edinburgh, Scotland, for the first time since 2019.