ATLANTA, Dec. 1, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines -- the world's fastest growing international airline -- this month continues its rapid southward expansion with 16 new nonstop flights to 14 destinations in 22 days. The new routes include popular business and leisure destinations across Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, including the only flights to be operated from the U.S. mainland to Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe and Fort de France, Martinique.
The new flights represent Delta's largest single month of expansion into Latin America and the Caribbean since it launched an aggressive plan to rebalance its mix of domestic and international flying last year. With this growth, Delta has increased weekly flights to Mexico and the Caribbean by 70 percent since fall 2004.
"Delta is pleased to continue the successful transformation of our route network with the introduction of 16 new routes for our customers to beautiful new destinations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean," said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president - Network Planning and Revenue Management. "Our transformation plan is working and this wave of growth is another example of the positive response we're seeing from customers from around the globe for Delta's growing line-up of international service."
Delta's new and expanded nonstop routes between the United States and Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean begin in December as follows:
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Hub/Gateway New Route Effective date
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Atlanta Leon, Mexico(a) Dec. 1, 2006
Port of Spain, Trinidad(b) Dec. 9, 2006
Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe Dec. 13, 2006
Puerto Plata,
Dominican Republic(b) Dec. 15, 2006
Fort de France, Martinique Dec. 16, 2006
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Los Angeles La Paz, Mexico(a) Dec. 15, 2006
Liberia, Costa Rica(b) Dec. 15, 2006
Guatemala City, Guatemala Dec. 15, 2006
Managua, Nicaragua Dec. 16, 2006
Loreto, Mexico(a) Dec. 18, 2006
Mazatlan, Mexico(a) Dec. 22, 2006
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New York-JFK Punta Cana,
Dominican Republic(b) Dec. 9, 2006
Mexico, City, Mexico Dec. 15, 2006(c)
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Orlando Mexico City, Mexico Dec. 1, 2006
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Salt Lake City Mexico City, Mexico Dec. 1, 2006
Guadalajara, Mexico Dec. 2, 2006
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(a) Operated by Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines
(b) Subject to foreign government approval
(c) Expanded from one to two daily round-trip flights
Delta's expanded nonstop service to Latin America and the Caribbean is part of a series of more than 40 new routes to Latin America and the Caribbean added or announced by Delta in the last year as part of the largest international expansion in the airline's history. With its March 2007 schedule, Delta, along with Delta Connection carrier partners, plans to offer customers 239 weekly flights to 19 Mexican destinations and 260 weekly flights to 23 Caribbean destinations.
Delta Air Lines (Other OTC:DALRQ) offers customers service to more destinations than any global airline with Delta and Delta Connection carrier service to 292 destinations in 46 countries. With more than 50 new international routes added in the last year, Delta is America's fastest growing international airline and is the world's leading carrier between the United States and destinations across Europe, India and Israel with flights to 29 trans-Atlantic destinations. To Latin America, Delta offers nearly 400 weekly flights to 48 destinations. 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. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 461 worldwide destinations in 96 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.
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