Delta is redrawing its global map — a historic first to Saudi Arabia, a return to Vancouver and fresh Caribbean links — as the airline expands from 19 U.S. airports through March 2027.
Delta Air Lines is adding six new international routes between July 2026 and March 2027, growing its international schedule 4% year over year as it expands service from 19 U.S. airports, according to OAG data.
The airline will operate 251 routes that cross U.S. borders during that period, averaging 244 international departures a day, based on the OAG figures. Delta, a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance, ranks as the third-largest U.S. operator of international flights, according to the OAG data cited by Simple Flying. The expansion comes as Delta reported record March-quarter revenue of $14.2 billion, nearly 10% above the same period last year. “Total revenue of $14.2 billion was a March quarter record and nearly 10 percent higher than last year, growing several points above our initial outlook, on broad demand strength across corporate and leisure,” Joe Esposito, Delta’s chief commercial officer, said in the airline’s earnings release.
First U.S. Nonstop Service to Saudi Arabia
Delta will become the first U.S. airline to operate nonstop service between the United States and Saudi Arabia when it launches flights from Atlanta to Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport on Oct. 23. The route will launch daily from Oct. 23 through Oct. 30, then settle into three-times-weekly service on an Airbus A350-900 configured with 40 Delta One lie-flat seats, 40 Premium Select seats, 36 Comfort+ seats and 159 economy seats.
The nonstop will cover 6,329 nautical miles, or 11,721 kilometers, each way, according to Simple Flying, with a maximum eastbound block time of up to 15 hours and 35 minutes. Simple Flying reports the existing market between Atlanta and Riyadh carried fewer than 5,000 round-trip passengers last year, and Delta is counting on connecting traffic through Atlanta to build demand.
Delta’s push into Saudi Arabia stems from a strategic partnership with Riyadh Air, the Saudi startup carrier that received U.S. Department of Transportation approval on June 16 to operate flights to and from the United States. Delta and Riyadh Air signed a cooperation agreement in July 2024 that named Delta as Riyadh Air’s exclusive partner in North America and Riyadh Air as Delta’s exclusive partner in Riyadh and beyond, according to the companies. Delta is also drawing funding from the Saudi Air Connectivity Program, a government initiative designed to attract international carriers to the kingdom, and benefits from a codeshare agreement with fellow SkyTeam member Saudia.
Vancouver Nonstop Returns to Los Angeles
Delta will relaunch twice-daily nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport and Vancouver International Airport on Nov. 21, using an Airbus A319. The airline last flew the route in 2018. It marks Delta’s only nonstop connection between Southern California and Canada.
The addition makes Delta the sixth carrier flying nonstop between the two airports, joining Air Canada, American Airlines, Flair Airlines, United Airlines and WestJet for up to 10 combined daily departures — short of the 15 daily nonstops the route saw roughly 19 years ago. Delta is already the leading airline by seat capacity at Los Angeles International this year, with seats for sale running 4% above the airport’s previous record, set in 2019.
New York Shifts Bermuda Service to LaGuardia
Delta will move its Bermuda service from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to LaGuardia Airport starting Oct. 6, discontinuing the JFK flights the day before. The new route to Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport will operate four times weekly on an Airbus A319 configured with 12 Delta First, 24 Delta Comfort+ and 96 Delta Main seats. Delta has served the New York-Bermuda market before, including in 2007 and from 2013 to 2014.
New Caribbean and Costa Rica Links
Delta will launch a first-ever nonstop route between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport on Dec. 19, flying weekly on Saturdays through April 11 on a Boeing 737-900ER. The airline has never before connected Detroit directly to Aruba. Delta’s broader winter Aruba expansion also includes a second daily flight from Boston and a shift of its Minneapolis-St. Paul service to Saturdays.
The same day, Delta will resume weekly Saturday service between New York’s JFK and Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in Liberia, in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste region, using an Airbus A321neo through April 10. Delta previously served the route in 2008 and from 2013 to 2017.
Tel Aviv Restart Still Pending
Delta also lists a planned resumption of Atlanta-to-Tel Aviv service on Dec. 19, with three weekly A350-900 flights to Ben Gurion Airport. But the route remains suspended through Dec. 18, and the December date is a targeted restart rather than a confirmed launch, according to reporting as recent as July 3. Delta most recently served the Atlanta-Tel Aviv market in 2023, and the route has been repeatedly delayed amid conflict in the Middle East and related restrictions at Ben Gurion Airport. Delta’s JFK-Tel Aviv flights, suspended separately, are tentatively set to resume Sept. 6.
Part of a Broader Buildout
The six new routes touch 10 airports and add 13,526 miles to Delta’s network, according to the airline’s route data. Of the six, only the Atlanta-Riyadh and Detroit-Aruba routes are entirely new to Delta’s map; the rest are returning or relocated service. Atlanta remains Delta’s largest international hub with 75 routes, followed by JFK with 49.
The additions follow a wave of international launches earlier in 2026, including new Delta service connecting Seattle with Rome and Barcelona, Boston with Madrid and Nice, and JFK with Sardinia, Porto and Malta, along with the resumption of nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Delta’s summer 2026 transatlantic schedule, with more than 650 weekly flights to nearly 30 European destinations, is the largest in the carrier’s history.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian told Bloomberg in May that he will “sit out consolidation in the US aviation market and instead focus on expanding abroad through partnerships,” a strategy that has continued even as jet fuel costs have risen sharply amid conflict in the Middle East. Delta cut domestic capacity 3% in the first quarter while maintaining its international growth trajectory.
Key Takeaways
- Delta will add six new international routes and grow its international schedule 4% year over year, reaching 251 routes from 19 U.S. airports through March 2027.
- The Oct. 23 Atlanta-Riyadh route makes Delta the first U.S. airline to fly nonstop to Saudi Arabia.
- Only two routes — Atlanta-Riyadh and Detroit-Aruba — are entirely new; the rest are returning or relocated service.
- Delta’s planned Dec. 19 resumption of Atlanta-Tel Aviv service remains contingent on regional conditions; the route is suspended through Dec. 18.
- CEO Ed Bastian says Delta will prioritize international growth over domestic consolidation, backed by record first-quarter revenue.