The resumption of this route means the SkyTeam member has seven routes to Heathrow this summer, with Salt Lake City joining Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York JFK, and Seattle.
Salt Lake City is Delta’s fourth-busiest hub this summer, according to data experts Cirium. The carrier is highly dominant at the airport, controlling about three-quarters of outbound flights. Southwest is number-two, with about 7% of departures.
Salt Lake City is back
After a 27-month absence, Delta will resume Salt Lake City to Heathrow on June 6th, with the first journey to the US on the 7th. It’ll operate for the remainder of the aviation summer season, with the last flight home on October 29th.
The 4,866-mile (7,831km) route will be Delta’s longest route to the UK. It’ll use four-class, 223-seat A330-200s, with 34 Delta One suites, 21 seats in Premium Select, 24 in Comfort+, and just 144 in Main Cabin. The schedule is as follows, with all times local:
- Salt Lake City to Heathrow: DL50, 20:50-13:30+1
- Heathrow to Salt Lake City: DL51, 15:20-18:50
As Heathrow isn’t much of a SkyTeam airport, it is not surprising that it follows the return of Amsterdam and Paris CDG, two major SkyTeam hubs. Amsterdam resumed in mid-2021, while CDG will take off in a week, on March 7th. Unlike London, they’re both year-round.
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Salt Lake to Heathrow: a summary
Delta began the long route in April 2016 in part because of its relationship with Virgin Atlantic. Initially year-round, it operated once-daily during the summer, reducing to four-weekly in winter. It soon became summer-seasonal, ending in October 2017 before operating April-October 2018.
Sure enough, it returned to year-round, recommencing in April 2019 and operating through the winter until the pandemic stopped it – and most other long-haul routes – in its tracks. It is likely to return to…