Soaring demand between Australia and the United States is driving Delta Air Lines to mount a confident ten Sydney-Los Angeles flights per week by the end of this year.
Despite local partner Virgin Australia switching its alliance to rival United Airlines, the Atlanta-based carrier will go beyond its daily DL40 service from 16 December this year.
Every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday will see the newly-minted flight DL42 leave Sydney at 2:15pm – compared to the 11:20am departure of DL40 – to reach the City of Angels at 9am, ready for travellers to put in a full day or catch a connecting flight on the SkyTeam member’s extensive domestic US network.
Both flights will feature Delta’s flagship Airbus A350-900, where the Delta One Suites in business class offer not only fully flat beds and direct aisle access for every passenger, but also a closing privacy door to help maximise rest on those transpacific treks.
Premium economy, branded as Delta Premium Select, also appears on the A350s, providing a comfortable reclining seat with a sturdy leg-rest, ample legroom, high-definition seat-back entertainment and more, as well as complimentary inflight messaging via Delta WiFi.
As previously reported, despite the Virgin-Delta breakup, some benefits for Velocity Frequent Flyers will continue to be available on Delta Air Lines flights until mid-June.
These include earning Velocity points and status credits, and using Velocity points to book a reward seat on a future Delta flight through to June 12, under what a Delta spokeswoman described to Executive Traveller as “part of a transition period agreed between DL and VA.”