Delta and Korean Air Strengthen Partnership with New Flights to Seoul

New Delta Atlanta-Seoul service complements Korean Air's existing flight; expanded codeshare agreement offers customers access to more destinations throughout Asia and the Americas

News provided by

Delta Air Lines

Sep 07, 2016, 01:00 ET

ATLANTA and SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) is expanding to Asia with new service between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Seoul Incheon International Airport beginning on June 3, 2017. The daily nonstop flight will operate with a 291-seat Boeing 777-200LR aircraft. Additionally, Delta and Korean Air are expanding their joint codeshare agreement.

Delta's new Atlanta flight complements Korean Air's existing service, providing customers in the Southeast U.S. with greater access to destinations across Asia. Combined, Delta and Korean will offer round-trip connectivity to 142 destinations in the Americas and 33 destinations across Asia between their joint Atlanta-Seoul schedules.

"Delta and Korean Air are expanding a 20+ year trans-Pacific partnership, and we believe the new Delta service between Atlanta and Seoul in conjunction with an enhanced partnership with Korean solidifies our joint position as leading carriers in the U.S.-Asia market," said Steve Sear, Delta's President – International & Executive Vice President – Global Sales. "Incheon International Airport is one of the premier gateways to Asia and the strength of our combined hubs and flight offerings gives customers a significantly enhanced portfolio of destinations for travel."

"Our expanded partnership with Delta allows our customers to travel more conveniently with more options between Asia and the Americas, strengthening our position as the world's largest trans-Pacific airline," said Walter Cho, Korean Air's C.O.O. "Travelers will benefit from the combined network strength of Korean Air and Delta resulting in greater schedule flexibility and increased frequency."

In addition to new Atlanta-Incheon service, Delta and Korean Air will expand their codeshare partnership, providing customers with greater access to destinations throughout Asia and the Americas. Korean will place its code on Delta's Atlanta to Seoul service along with flights to 115 U.S. and Canada destinations beyond Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York City. Korean will also add its code to Delta's Sao Paulo, Brazil flights from both Atlanta and New York City. Delta will expand its codeshare footprint to 32 Korean Air destinations beyond Seoul including new code to Taipei, Osaka, Singapore, Nagoya and Okinawa. The airline will also place its code on Korean flights from San Francisco and Houston to Seoul. Delta and Korean plan to launch the new codeshare in 4Q 2016, subject to government approvals.

Delta's new daily nonstop service between Atlanta and Seoul:

Flight	Departs	Arrives	Start Date
DL 89	Atlanta 1:05 p.m.	Seoul 4:45 p.m. (next day)	June 3, 2017
DL 88	Seoul 6:30 p.m.	Atlanta 7:40 p.m.	June 4, 2017

Korean's current daily nonstop service between Seoul and Atlanta:

Flight	Departs	Arrives
KE 35	Seoul 9:20 a.m.	Atlanta 10:20 a.m.
KE 36	Atlanta 12:20 p.m.	Seoul 4:10 p.m. (next day)

Korean's Seoul-Atlanta flight is operated by Boeing 777-300ER with eight First Class, 42 Prestige business and 227 economy seats. The new Delta operated 777-200LR service offers 37 Delta One business, 36 Delta Comfort+ and 218 Main Cabin seats.

Today, Delta offers 14 weekly flights to Seoul Incheon International Airport from its global gateways in Detroit and Seattle. Korean Air offers almost 100 weekly flights to 13 gateways in North America including New York-JFK, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Honolulu, Washington-Dulles, Houston-Intercontinental, Chicago-O'Hare, Seattle, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Toronto.

Delta and Korean are two of the four founding members of the SkyTeam alliance which began in 2000.

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 180 million customers each year. In 2016, Delta was named to Fortune's top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the fifth time in six years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented five consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 321 destinations in 56 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading transatlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a 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 and LaGuardia, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub, as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta, and Facebook.com/delta.

Korean Air, is one of the world's top 20 airlines and carried more than 24 million passengers in 2015. Korean Air operates over 460 flights per day to 131 cities in 46 countries on six continents with a fleet of 173 aircraft including ten A380s.

With its modern aircraft and over 20,000 professional employees, Korean Air offers customers convenience and comfort. Korean Air's award-winning offerings of Korean and international meals and state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system provide passengers with a memorable inflight experience.

The airline is a founding member of the Sky Team airline alliance, which together with its 20 members, offers its 612 million annual passengers a worldwide system of more than 16,320 daily flights covering 1,052 destinations in 177 countries.

Korean Air introduced the double-decker A380 aircraft to its fleet in 2011 and made the interior more spacious than any other airline, with just 407 seats spread across three classes, with the top deck dedicated to 'Prestige' business class. The design also features the world's first onboard 'Duty Free Showcase' and three bar lounges.

More on Korean Air's programs, routes, frequencies and partners is available at www.koreanair.com.

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SOURCE Delta Air Lines