Delta has started new service from Raleigh-Durham to Paris. (Image: Jim Glab)
In the latest international route developments, Delta adds a European route from Raleigh-Durham; Turkish Airlines makes its Atlanta debut; Japan’s ANA will add a pair of U.S. routes to Tokyo Haneda as American carriers wait for word on new Haneda slots, with Hawaiian Airlines the first winner; Air India plans new Newark service via London; and Air China boosts Newark frequencies.
It’s not really a big Delta hub, but Delta is the largest airline at Raleigh-Durham, so the carrier has started new daily flights from RDU to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Delta is using a 164-seat 757-200ER on the new route to Paris, where customers can connect to 75 onward destinations thanks to Delta’s joint venture partners Air France, KM and Alitalia.
Turkish Airlines is using a 777-300ER on its new Atlanta route. (Image: Boeing)
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport rolled out the water cannon this week to welcome the first flight there from Turkish Airlines. The Turkish carrier will offer daily service on the Atlanta-Istanbul route with a 777-300ER. It’s the ninth U.S. gateway for Turkish Airlines, along with New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Boston and Washington Dulles. Delta was supposed to resume seasonal service this month between New York JFK and Istanbul, but it decided last month to suspend that service, citing security concerns.
Tokyo Haneda Airport is on the airline industry’s mind these days as the U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to announce any time now which U.S. carriers will get new daytime slots there. Since Haneda opened up to transpacific flights, U.S. carriers have been restricted to arrivals and departures late at night or very early in the morning, which made it difficult to attract passengers, even though Haneda is much closer to downtown Tokyo than Narita Airport.
Tokyo-bound tails at Honolulu International (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
But an amended agreement with Japan will open up some daytime slots at Haneda starting October 30, and the big U.S. carriers have been clamoring for those much-desired rights. In its first decision on Haneda, DOT granted Hawaiian Airlines rights to serve Haneda from Honolulu and Kona – but mostly because it was willing to accept an overnight slot. Hawaiian plans to fly the route four times a week from Honolulu and three from Kona, but the starting date hasn’t yet been set. And even though the new daytime slots haven’t yet been awarded, Delta and United have already started taking reservations for new schedules this fall on their Los Angeles-Haneda and San Francisco-Haneda routes respectively.
Meanwhile, Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) already won new daytime slots at Haneda, and said it will use them starting October 30 for daily flights from New York JFK and Chicago O’Hare. ANA also flies to Haneda from Los Angeles, Honolulu and Vancouver.
August 15 is the starting date for Air India service from Ahmedabad to Newark Liberty International, a route that it will fly three times a week with a 787-8. The new service will operate via a stop at London Heathrow. Also at Newark, Air China plans to increase frequencies from four a week to seven on its EWR-Beijing route from July 22 through August 24. It also serves New York JFK.
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