Green Light to Delta for Heathrow Expansion

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) got the stamp of sanction from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the European Commission to operate daily, year-round flights between the London’s Heathrow and Boston and Miami international airports. The new flights are scheduled to operate from March 27, 2011 while the fares for these flights will be announced next week.Delta Air Lines will operate the new routes within the capacity of the carriers’ transatlantic joint venture with Air France – KLM and Alitalia. Including these new routes the number of transatlantic routes controlled by the member airlines from Boston increases to four (Amsterdam, London, Paris and Rome) whereas the figure goes to five (Amsterdam, London, Paris, Rome and Milan) for routes offered from Miami.

“Delta appreciates the efforts of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the European Commission to expand competition between the U.S. and Heathrow by making slots available for new entrants on these routes,” Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s executive vice president (Network Planning, Revenue Management and Marketing) stated in the company’s press release.

He expressed his gratefulness for the concerned authorities “Our new Boston service is possible in large part thanks to the leadership of the Massachusetts Port Authority, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Gov. Deval Patrick, Massachusetts’ entire Congressional delegation and eight New England U.S. Senators who supported our bid to expand service,.” he observed.

“In Florida, our new London-Heathrow service from Miami is possible thanks to the strong support of Miami International Airport, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, the Miami-Dade state legislative delegation and Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado,” Mr Hauenstein further added.

Earlier this year, Delta Air Lines applied for the authorization to operate flights to Miami and Boston from London Heathrow. The application for authorisation was a part of a divestiture of slots necessary following the U.S. and E.U. governments’ consent of an immunized coalition betweenAmerican Airlines and British Airways.

Delta argued in its proposal that new Heathrow services would be most beneficial for the customers as the carrier’s global alliance – SkyTeam – holds the minimum percentage of slots at Heathrow.

Delta Air Lines, an Atlanta-based carrier, started serving Heathrow in the month of March in 2008, following the wrap up of an Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and the E.U. that abolished limitations on the number of U.S. airlines allowed to operate in the region. Since then, the carrier has expanded its operations to seven daily round-trip flights in the Heathrow market. And from March 2011, Delta Air Lines’ service to Heathrow will increase to 10 daily round-trip flights.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is an American-based airline that serves more than 160 million customers every year. The airline, along with its other alliance member airlines, operates flights to nearly 350 destinations in 64 countries throughout the world. The carrier is headquartered in Atlanta and employs approximately 75,000 employees around the world. Delta maintains a fleet of over 700 aircrafts.