Delta Air Lines is the US’ second-largest operator for transatlantic flights. This market encompasses Africa, parts of Asia such as South Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In the past 20 years, the carrier’s transatlantic network in these areas involved 61 airports, but things have changed. It always does.
The SkyTeam member’s full transatlantic schedule was examined using Cirium Diio data. This explored what existed between January 2006 and July 2026, and was then compared to what’s available from August 2026 until March 2027. This process identified that 24 airports have been removed from Delta’s network. The number would be higher if the more distant past were considered.
Six Destinations Cut In Africa, South Asia, And The Middle East
Some of Delta’s former airports in these areas may raise eyebrows, as they are not particularly well known. Few may recall that the airline flew to the capitals of Egypt, Jordan, and Nigeria. The cuts involved two hubs: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which is by far the airline’s busiest hub and the world’s leading airport for passenger traffic, and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Schedule analysis shows that Delta flew from ATL to Kuwait and Mumbai in 2008 and 2009, along with Dubai International Airport (DXB) between 2007 and 2016. These three very long routes deployed the Boeing 777-200LR (shown above). ATL-Mumbai was Delta’s longest-ever nonstop service by distance and time.
Delta had flights from JFK to Abuja in 2010, along with Amman from 2008 to 2011, Cairo between 2008 and 2011, and Mumbai until 2008 and again from 2019 to 2020. The airline has stated on multiple occasions that it is keen to return to India; perhaps it’ll use the incoming Airbus A350-1000. The old Dakar airport (IATA code DKR) was also served but excluded here, as Delta simply switched to the new facility (IATA code DSS).
Two of them barely filled six in ten seats. Find out more here!
These 18 Airports In Europe No Longer See Delta
They are summarized in the following table. While Delta’s frames are no longer seen in these airports, codeshare partners and fellow SkyTeam alliance members, particularly Air France and KLM, enable passengers to reach most of them. The main exceptions are Kyiv and Moscow due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The now-closed Berlin Tegel is excluded in this article, as Delta simply shifted to Brandenburg.
Nowadays, Delta barely flies the Boeing 757 to Europe. Only two routes use the type, and both are to Keflavik International Airport (KEF), which is Iceland’s busiest airport. However, this was not always the case. For example, in the past two decades, the 757-200 was fully or partly deployed to eight of the now-unserved airports: Glasgow, London Gatwick, Lyon, Malaga, Manchester, Pisa, Ponta Delgada, and Valencia.
At 3,590 nautical miles (6,649 km) each way, JFK-Pisa flights existed between 2007 and 2016. While originally a 767 route, the 757 appeared in 2014 and was deployed through the end. The narrowbody’s maximum block time back to the US was up to nine hours and 40 minutes. That is meaningfully longer than the current longest transatlantic 757 services.
Destination Airport(s); Some Were Also Served In The Most Distance Past
* Since closed to scheduled operations, and Delta does not serve its replacement facility
Seven Of The European Airports Do Not Have US Flights
Between August 2026 to March 2027, 11 of the 18 European airports will have regular US flights by one or more other airlines. Seven of them will see US carriers. American Airlines has just returned to Budapest; United flies to Dubrovnik, Geneva, Malaga, and Ponta Delgada, and has just resumed service to Glasgow; and JetBlue continues to fly to London Gatwick.
None of these seven airports now have scheduled operations to the US: Düsseldorf, Kyiv (due to the war), Lyon, Moscow (Sheremetyevo or any other airport, due to sanctions), Pisa, Stuttgart, and Valencia. Could United, which now serves six Spanish airports, fly from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Valencia, which is the country’s third most populous city?
Possibly, and with an estimated 120,000 passengers to/from North America last year, it is a reasonable-sized existing market for a thrice-weekly seasonal operation. When other nearby cities are included, the market size is similar to Santiago de Compostela, to which United recently started flying from EWR. The capacity of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 would be suitable for Valencia, but it’d be by far United’s longest transatlantic link on the variant. The city is also less touristy than some of the airline’s other Spanish destinations. It is unlikely to happen.
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