NEW YORK, May 11, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Delta Air Lines will further expand its market-leading presence for customers at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport with the addition of 25 daily Delta Connection carrier flights to 14 nonstop domestic destinations beginning between July and October. With the new service, Delta now plans to offer more than 140 peak-day domestic departures from its JFK hub by October, up from 70 in May.
Delta's latest round of expanded service includes four new daily round-trip flights between New York-JFK and Manchester, N.H., and four new daily round-trip flights between JFK and Portland, Maine. Both new routes will be operated by Delta Connection carrier Freedom Airlines beginning Sept. 15, 2006.
Additionally, Delta will increase service on 12 other domestic routes from JFK: Baltimore; Boston; Burlington, Vt.; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Ind.; Nashville, Tenn.; Norfolk, Va.; Pittsburgh; Raleigh-Durham; Richmond, Va.; and Washington, D.C.-Dulles.
Customers can purchase tickets for travel on the additional flights to Boston, Cleveland, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham and Richmond effective immediately, while tickets for added flights to other destinations, including new service to Manchester and Portland, will be available for purchase May 21.
As JFK's leading airline, Delta offers nonstop service to more U.S. and international destinations than any other carrier. In total, Delta will offer customers 164 peak day flights to 69 worldwide destinations by October, including new nonstop international service to Budapest, Hungary; Dublin/Shannon, Ireland (effective May 15); Manchester, England (effective May 15); Kiev, Ukraine (effective June 1); and Sao Paulo, Brazil (effective June 16).
"Delta continues to demonstrate to our customers why we are New York's airline with the addition of more new flights to more destinations than any carrier in the market," said Bob Cortelyou, Delta's vice president -- Network Planning. "Our ongoing expansion at the JFK hub significantly increases the convenience of choosing Delta for travel between the U.S. and destinations around the world as we grow service in every direction from New York, including transcontinental, regional and nonstop international service."
Delta's expanded service in the Northeast will be operated by Delta Connection carriers Comair and Freedom Airlines using a mix of 50-seat Bombardier regional jets and 37-seat DeHavilland Dash-8 turboprops.
The new service will begin as follows:
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Between New New/expanded Effective Service
York-JFK and service available
for purchase
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Boston 3 additional July 1, 2006 (2)(a)/ May 11
round-trip Oct. 1, 2006 (1)(a)
flights
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Cleveland, Ohio 1 additional July 1, 2006(a) May 11
round-trip
flight
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Nashville, Tenn. 1 additional July 1, 2006(a) May 11
round-trip
flight
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Pittsburgh, Pa. 1 additional July 1, 2006(a) May 11
round-trip
flight
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Raleigh-Durham, 1 additional July 1, 2006(a) May 11
N.C. round-trip
flight
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Richmond, Va. 2 additional July 1, 2006(a) May 11
round-trip
flights
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Baltimore 1 additional Sept. 1, 2006(a) May 21
round-trip
flight
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Columbus, Ohio 2 additional Sept. 1, 2006(a)/(c) May 21
round-trip
flights
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Indianapolis, 1 additional Sept. 1, 2006(a) May 21
Ind. round-trip
flight
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Burlington, Vt. 2 additional Sept. 5, 2006 (1)(b)/ May 21
round-trip Sept. 15, 2006 (1)(b)
flights
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Manchester, N.H. 4 new Sept. 15, 2006(b) May 21
round-trip
flights
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Portland, Maine 4 new Sept. 15, 2006 (3)(b)/ May 21
round-trip Oct. 1, 2006 (1)(b)
flights
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Washington, D.C.- 1 additional Sept. 15, 2006(b) May 21
Dulles round-trip
flight
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Norfolk, Va. 1 additional Oct. 1, 2006(b) May 21
round-trip
flight
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(a) Operated by Delta Connection carrier Comair with 50-seat
Bombardier regional jets
(b) Operated by Delta Connection carrier Freedom Airlines with
37-seat Dash-8 turboprops
(c) One frequency operated by Delta Connection carrier Chautauqua
Airlines with 50-seat Embraer regional jets
As previously announced, to support this summer's growth Delta is investing more than $10 million in renovations to its Terminal 2 and 3 facilities at JFK. Refurbishments under way include replacing carpet, ceilings, paint, lighting and wall coverings in all public areas; refurbishing the Terminal 3 customs and immigrations entrance; refreshing facilities in Delta's BusinessElite lounge and Crown Room Clubs; and restoring Terminal 2 facilities formerly utilized by Song for Delta operations. Additionally, Delta is adding international functionality to its JFK check-in kiosks to give customers more choice and convenience and to expedite customer check-in. The full refurbishment is expected to be complete by late 2006.
In addition to its growing hub at JFK, Delta also offers New York's leading Shuttle product to Washington, D.C. and Boston from the city's preferred business airport at LaGuardia; a full-service business center for Delta customers at LaGuardia's Marine Air Terminal; and nonstop service to all of LaGuardia customers' top business destinations with the recent introduction of nonstop flights to Chicago-O'Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth operated by Delta Connection carrier Shuttle America. In total, Delta has announced new flights to eight nonstop destinations from LaGuardia since December and plans to offer customers flights to 32 of the airport's most popular destinations by summer.
Delta is the largest airline serving New York City's two preferred airports -- John F. Kennedy International and New York-LaGuardia. At LaGuardia, Delta is the largest carrier in terms of available seat miles and offers customers the city's leading Shuttle product to Boston and Washington, D.C. At New York-JFK, Delta operates a major international and domestic hub with plans to offer 164 peak day flights to 69 worldwide destinations by October, including 15 new nonstop destinations in the U.S. and Canada, five new trans-Atlantic destinations and the airline's first service between South America and New York. With the July 2006 schedule, Delta will offer customers more flights from JFK than any airline in the market, including more destinations to Europe than any other carrier serving JFK.
Delta Air Lines (Other OTC:DALRQ) is one of the world's fastest growing international carriers with more than 50 new international routes added or announced in the last year. Delta offers flights to 447 destinations in 96 countries on Delta, Delta Shuttle, the Delta Connection carriers and its worldwide partners. In summer 2006, Delta plans to offer customers more destinations and departures between the U.S., Europe, India and Israel than any global airline(see Note 1), including service on 11 new trans-Atlantic routes from its Atlanta and New York-JFK hubs. Delta also is a major carrier to Mexico, South and Central America and the Caribbean, with nearly 40 routes announced, added or applied to serve since Jan. 1, 2005. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on more than 14,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.
The Delta logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1825
(Note 1) From the U.S., based on July 2006 OAG.
A portion of travel for some itineraries may be on the Delta Connection carriers Chautauqua, Comair, Freedom Airlines or Shuttle America.