Airlines continue to alter their flight paths as the travel industry tries to get the pulse on domestic and international travel demand post-pandemic. While many routes are being added, like new daily flights from the U.S. to Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean on Delta, and new opportunities to get from the U.S. to London Gatwick with Norse Atlantic (a new low-cost carrier), others have been on the chopping block.
Delta confirmed it is restructuring its flight map, this time dropping six transatlantic routes that had been planned for the 2023-2024 winter season.
According to a statement shared with AFAR, the adjustment is being made “as the demand environment for winter travel becomes more clear.”
The soon-to-go flight paths include:
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Germany’s Dusseldorf International Airport (currently flying on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; service ends October 26, 2023)
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Germany’s Stuttgart Airport (currently flying on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; service ends October 27, 2023)
- New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Germany’s Berlin Brandenburg Airport (now seasonal: flying daily from May 25–October 27, 2023)
- New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Denmark’s Copenhagen Airport (now seasonal: flying daily from April 9–October 27, 2023)
- New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Switzerland’s Geneva Airport (now seasonal: flying daily from April 10–October 27, 2023)
- New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Sweden’s Stockholm Arlanda Airport (flying on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until May 7, and then daily until October 27, 2023)
Traditionally, airlines see fewer bookings between the U.S. and Europe in the winter compared to summer, its peak season. However, several of the dropped routes will be relatively short lived. The routes from Atlanta to Dusseldorf and Stuttgart had been year-round flight paths pre-pandemic but were trimmed from the schedule in March 2020—they’ll only be back for six months before they’ll be gone again. Similarly, the airline announced the return of the JFK-to-Geneva route (brought back for the first time since 1993) last September, but it’ll only be around for seven months. There’s no word yet on whether those flight paths might reappear next summer.
Delta will also suspend the planned return of flights from Detroit and Seattle to Beijing for the foreseeable future, despite China reopening to tourists just last week.
Travelers who have already booked one of the canceled flights will be offered alternative itineraries through Delta’s partners, Air France and KLM, both of which can get travelers to the suspended destinations. However, rebooked flights on Air France will require a stop in Paris, and those on KLM will have a layover in Amsterdam. If the new itinerary doesn’t work for travelers (or they’ve just changed their minds), they’re entitled to a full refund back to the original form of payment.
