LOS ANGELES, May 9, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) will accelerate the pace of its expansion at Los Angeles International Airport with the addition of 21 new daily flights to nine cities spanning from Canada to Colorado, effective July 1. With the expansion, Delta will offer customers flying to, from or through Los Angeles 100 peak-day departures to 48 nonstop destinations -- an increase of nearly 105 percent from the same time last year.
The expansion accelerates Delta's efforts to transform Los Angeles into a leading gateway for travel between the West Coast and Mexico and Central America. With the July schedule, Delta plans to offer Los Angeles customers flights to 17 destinations in Mexico and Central America and nonstop service to leading West Coast business markets such as San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Vancouver.
"Based on our success to date, Delta is eager to introduce additional growth for customers in Los Angeles this summer," said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president -- Network Planning and Revenue Management. "In the last year Delta has added more than 55 flights to 34 destinations from Los Angeles to reach a growing customer base that is hungry for additional competition. Our newest markets will improve connections between destinations across Mexico and Central America with communities throughout the West with a growing demand for travel."
Delta Connection carrier ExpressJet Airlines will operate the new routes using 50-passenger Embraer 145 regional jets with upgraded in-flight entertainment with more than 100 channels of free XM Satellite Radio and redesigned, memory foam leather seating with no middle seats. The new flights will be timed to conveniently connect customers to existing Delta and Delta Connection flights at the L.A. gateway, including dozens of flights to Mexico; transcontinental service to New York, Boston, Florida and Atlanta; and nonstop service to Hawaii, Alaska, Canada and points throughout the West.
Delta's new nonstop service from Los Angeles is scheduled as follows:
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City Number of New Daily Effective Frequency Carrier
Round-Trip Flights
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Boise, 1 July 1, Daily ExpressJet
Idaho 2007
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Denver, 4 July 1, Daily ExpressJet
Colo. 2007
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Oakland, 2* July 1, Daily ExpressJet
Calif. 2007
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Phoenix 4 July 1, Daily ExpressJet
2007
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Sacramento 2* July 1, Daily ExpressJet
2007
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San Francisco 2** July 1, Daily ExpressJet
2007
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San Jose, 4 July 1, Daily ExpressJet
Calif. 2007
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Spokane, 1 July 1, Daily ExpressJet
Wash. 2007
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Vancouver 1 July 1, Daily ExpressJet
2007
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* Expands to four the number of daily round-trip flights in the
market
** Expands to six the number of daily round-trip flights in the market
With this expansion, ExpressJet will operate 18 regional jet aircraft in the Delta Connection fleet from the Los Angeles gateway or the Salt Lake City hub.
Delta is the fastest growing airline in terms of destinations served at Los Angeles International Airport, with 34 destinations added in the last year. In addition to 17 new routes added to Mexico and Central America, Delta has also added service between Los Angeles and numerous U.S. destinations, including Anchorage, McAllen, Texas, Jacksonville, Fla., Seattle, New Orleans, Portland, Oregon; Reno and Las Vegas. With its July schedule, Delta plans to offer 681 weekly departures from Los Angeles to 48 nonstop destinations***.
Delta Air Lines offers customers service to more destinations than any global airline with Delta and Delta Connection carrier service to 311 destinations in 52 countries. With more than 60 new international routes added in the last year, Delta is adding international flights at a faster rate than any other major U.S. airline and is a leader across the Atlantic with flights to 32 trans-Atlantic destinations. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers more than 600 weekly flights to 58 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on nearly 15,000 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 462 worldwide destinations in 98 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.
*** Some flights between Los Angeles and McAllen, Texas; Seattle;
Portland, Oregon; Reno; and Las Vegas may be operated by Delta
Connection carrier ExpressJet. Flights to Los Mochis, Mexico
(effective June 2); Tijuana, Mexico (effective June 7); and
Zacatecas, Mexico (effective June 8) are subject to foreign
government approval.
The Delta Air Lines, Inc. logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1825