Delta Adds Kona Flight and More Leisure Service From Seattle

Delta's fastest-growing hub will offer 126 peak-day departures to 35 destinations by summer

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Feb 23, 2015, 12:00 ET

SEATTLE, Feb. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) is adding service from its hub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Kona International Airport and will increase service from select seasonal markets beginning as soon as summer 2015.

The new and increased Seattle service will operate as follows:

One daily flight to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii beginning Dec. 19, 2015
One additional daily flight to Palm Springs, Calif., for a total of two daily seasonal flights beginning Dec. 19, 2015
One daily seasonal flight to Tucson, Ariz., which was previously Saturday service, beginning Dec. 19, 2015
Extension of seasonal service to daily year-round service to Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska, beginning May 15, 2015
Expanded seasonal service to Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, beginning Oct. 3, 2015

"Over the past year, we've focused on building our Seattle hub by adding new service and investing in our products and facilities to provide a strong, differentiated option to key destinations for both our business and leisure customers," said Mike Medeiros, Delta's vice president of Seattle. "The addition of Kona service, along with expansion in other leisure markets, ensures our customers have even more choices when it's time to unwind."

Service to Kona will be operated with Boeing 757-200 aircraft. Fairbanks, Juneau and Puerto Vallarta will use Boeing 737-800 aircraft, while Los Cabos will use Airbus A319 aircraft. Palm Springs and Tucson service will be operated by Delta Connection carrier SkyWest using two-class, 65-seat CRJ-700 aircraft. Additionally, Delta will introduce Boeing 717 aircraft on some existing routes between Seattle and Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

As Seattle's global airline, Delta offers customers access to a worldwide network of destinations throughout Asia, Europe and the U.S. with 85 peak-day departures to 31 destinations from Seattle. By summer, the airline will operate 126 flights to 35 destinations from its West Coast hub.

Delta will serve Seattle's top 15 destinations in the Western U.S. when recently announced service to Boise, Idaho; Denver; and Sacramento, Calif., launches this spring. Ketchikan and Sitka, Alaska, service will also launch in May, completing the top five destinations in Alaska.

During the summer, Delta offers 10 long-haul international flights from Seattle, providing as much long-haul international service from Seattle as all other airlines combined. This includes the top five destinations in Asia and three of the top four destinations in Europe. Delta is the only carrier to offer nonstop service from Seattle to Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo-Haneda.

Every Delta flight from Seattle features jet service with BusinessElite/First Class and Economy Comfort seating and free entertainment options via Delta Studio as well as Wi-Fi service on every domestic aircraft operating in the contiguous U.S. Delta is the only carrier to offer full flat-bed seats with direct aisle access in BusinessElite on every long-haul international flight from Seattle along with entertainment on demand in every seat throughout the aircraft. Locally, Delta recently opened a 7,000-square-foot corporate office just outside Seattle in downtown Bellevue. The airline has also invested $15 million in its facilities at Sea-Tac, including its Delta Sky Club and recently completed lobby renovations, Sky Priority services, new gate area power recharging stations, expanded ticket counters and enhancements to the international arrivals area.

From now until July 31, residents of Washington, Alaska and Oregon can fast-track to Silver Medallion status in just two qualifying round-trip flights by enrolling in the "Two Trips to Silver" promotion using their SkyMiles number. By flying additional qualifying round-trips, SkyMiles members in these states can go on to earn Gold Medallion status and up to 30,000 bonus miles. Terms and exclusions apply and are available at delta.com/2tosilver.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 170 million customers each year. Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for four consecutive years, a first for any airline. Additionally, Delta was named to FORTUNE magazine's top 50 World's Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the fourth time in five years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 326 destinations in 59 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a newly formed joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta, Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.