Delta's Seattle-London Heathrow Service Begins

Airline to double daily departures from Sea-Tac International Airport by summer

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Mar 31, 2014, 02:19 ET

SEATTLE, March 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) continued its rapid expansion in Seattle with the launch of new daily nonstop service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to London Heathrow Airport on Saturday, March 29. The route, established as part of Delta's joint venture with Virgin Atlantic Airways, gives Seattle customers nonstop access to one of the world's top business markets and is an important enhancement to Delta's growing trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific network from Seattle.

Through its trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia, Delta offers Seattle-area travelers nonstop service to Paris and Amsterdam while also providing connecting service to more than 150 additional destinations beyond those European hubs.

"The successful launch of Seattle to London Heathrow service kick starts a very exciting period of growth for Delta and its customers," said Mike Medeiros, Delta's vice president - Seattle. "In the next few months our goal to become the region's global carrier will become a reality with the addition of dozens of new flights to international and domestic destinations."

This spring Delta will also begin expanded Seattle service from Anchorage; Fairbanks, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; and Vancouver to support its growing international gateway that currently serves London Heathrow, Amsterdam and Paris-Charles de Gaulle as well as Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo-Narita, and Tokyo-Haneda.

In June, Delta will begin new international service from Seattle to Seoul and Hong Kong, bringing Delta's total nonstop transoceanic destinations to nine, as many as all other Sea-Tac international carriers combined. Every transoceanic Delta flight from Seattle features full flat-bed seats in BusinessElite, Economy Comfort seating and personal, on demand entertainment at every seat throughout the aircraft. All international flights will feature Ku-band satellite Wi-Fi by the end of 2015.

By this summer, Delta will offer more than 2,500 daily international seats as part of its 79 peak-day departures to 25 destinations.

Delta currently operates 35 peak-day departures to 15 destinations from Seattle, including two-class service on every flight and domestic Wi-Fi service. The airline has also invested $14 million in its facilities at Sea-Tac, including its recently completed lobby renovations, new Delta Sky Club, Sky Priority services, new gate area power recharging stations and expanded ticket counters.

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 165 million customers each year. This year, Delta was named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine and was named to FORTUNE magazine's top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the third time in four years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 324 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 hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City 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.