Delta Air Lines Gets Government OK to Expand Service at London's Heathrow Airport

Airline thanks U.S. Department of Transportation, European Commission, sets March 27, 2011 start date for expanded service at Boston, Miami

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Delta Air Lines

Nov 10, 2010, 04:13 ET

ATLANTA, Nov. 10, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The U.S. Department of Transportation and the European Commission today granted Delta Air Lines' (NYSE: DAL) request to operate new daily, year-round flights between London's Heathrow and Boston and Miami international airports. The new flights will begin March 27, 2011, with final flight schedules and fares to be announced within the next week.

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"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," said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president – Network Planning, Revenue Management and Marketing. "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.

"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."

The new routes will be operated within the scope of Delta's trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. They will bring to four the number of trans-Atlantic routes operated by the joint venture partner airlines from Boston and to five the number of routes offered from Miami. Delta, Air France. KLM and Alitalia serve Amsterdam, London-Heathrow, Paris and Rome from both cities; Miami customers enjoy additional service to Milan operated by Alitalia.

Delta applied for the rights to serve Boston and Miami from Heathrow earlier this year as part of a divestiture of slots required following the U.S. and E.U. governments' approval of an immunized alliance between American Airlines and British Airways. Delta argued its proposed new Heathrow service would bring the most benefit to consumers because its global alliance – SkyTeam – holds the smallest percentage of slots at Heathrow.

Delta began serving Heathrow in March 2008 following the conclusion of an Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and the E.U. that eliminated decades-old restrictions on the number of U.S. airlines allowed to serve the market. Since that time, Delta has expanded from zero to seven its number of daily round-trip flights in the Heathrow market, with a current offering of three daily flights to New York-JFK; two peak-day flights to Atlanta and Detroit; and one daily flight to Minneapolis/St. Paul. In March 2011, this number will grow to 10 daily round-trip flights when Boston and Miami are added.

About Delta

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 348 destinations in 64 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 75,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, the world's largest airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.