DAL4EVER

ATLANTA, Nov. 6, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSEAL - News), the world's largest airline, today announced the start of two additional nonstop flights between France and the United States with the airline's first-ever nonstop service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. and Pittsburgh. The new routes, enabled by Delta's successful joint venture with Air France, will offer customers in both cities convenient connections to more than 90 cities in Europe via Air France's Paris hub.

``Strategic and unique international growth -- bolstered by our innovative partnership with Air France and merger with Northwest -- has been a cornerstone of Delta's successful business strategy over the last several years,'' said Robert Cortelyou, senior vice president - Network Planning. ``Delta's new nonstop service from Raleigh-Durham and Pittsburgh offers customers convenient access to Paris and connecting opportunities to more than 90 destinations beyond.''

Delta will make history in Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham with its new flights. The new trans-Atlantic route from Pittsburgh will be the only nonstop transatlantic service offered by any airline from the city. The new route from Raleigh-Durham will be Delta's first-ever nonstop trans-Atlantic flight offered from North Carolina and will be operated from Raleigh's terminal two, the airport's newest terminal, which opened Oct. 26.

``This flight will be strategically important for North Carolina and the region,'' said N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Jim Fain. ``In addition to supporting two-way tourism, it will facilitate business relationships between North Carolina and France.''

``On behalf of the Pittsburgh region's business community, we are very pleased with today's announcement. Pittsburgh is a vibrant part of the global economy. Our regional companies generate over a third of their revenues outside the United States and foreign direct investment here is increasing as well. Direct international air service will make it easier for business investment in our region to continue growing,'' said Michael Langley, CEO, Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

The new nonstop service from both markets will be launched in June 2009. The routes will be operated by Boeing 757-200 aircraft, with seating for up to 174 passengers, including 16 seats in Delta's BusinessElite and 158 in economy class. Customers flying BusinessElite on any Delta international aircraft enjoy Delta on Demand featuring first-run and popular classic movies, music, TV programming and video games -- all available on demand; a five-course menu offering culinary creations by celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein; a reinvented wine program by Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson featuring wines from around the world; full-size pillows and duvets; and in-seat power outlets that allow customers to recharge their laptops.

The first phase of Delta's joint venture with Air France was implemented in April 2008 coinciding with a landmark Open Skies agreement that liberalized air transport between the European Union and the United States. Immediate benefits of the joint venture included the addition of new routes between the United States and France, with the launch of nonstop flights between Salt Lake City and Paris in June; New York-JFK and Lyon in July; and an additional daily flight between Atlanta and Paris. The agreement also helped secure Delta's entry into London Heathrow, with flights from New York-JFK and Atlanta, which were launched in cooperation with Air France. Additionally, Air France began its first trans-Atlantic flights between the United States and London Heathrow on Mar. 31, 2008.

KC10 FATboy

Whoa .... who would have seen this one coming?

Raleigh-Durham to Paris?

-Fatty

DAL4EVER

Yeah, of all the stuff I've heard recently, these two definitely did not come up.

Wasatch Phantom

Very Interesting.

I'm ecstatic that DAL management is looking for growth opportunities as opposed to the more characteristic "retrenchment" under previous management teams.

My understanding of the Salt Lake to Paris flight is that the city Of Salt Lake (and perhaps the state of Utah as well) gave DAL significant financial incentives to start that service. Perhaps RDU and PIT also provided incentives.

I ski a fair amount in the winter and it's always interesting to talk with others riding up the chairlift. DAL has early morning non-stop service from most major east coast cities to SLC. This means a passenger could get on a flight and be skiing in Utah early that afternoon.

But most people I talk to don't do that. They'll take another carrier and make an extra stop (or two) to save 20 bucks or so. Seems dumb to me. Especially when you factor in that at many UT ski areas if you show a boarding pass with your name on it from that day, they'll let you ski that day for nothing.

I suspect that there will be many more Europeans skiing in UT this winter.

PilotFrog

Sounds great but I am just wondering who is going to fly it? I guess it will have to be ATL people on a six day because there is no NY to Paris right now, but I thought NY had all the 75 ERs. Nice to see expansion though.

acl65pilot

This is good. We will be pulling the a/c from some where.

RDU will be good, but I think that we will be competing with AMR on their LHR run out of there.
PIT, used to have good service before LLC's pull out. I guess we will see of there really is enough O and D to support that one.

acl65pilot

DAL you did not hear about these? Really?

Wheels up

Nothing like a 9 hour flight in a 757 coach seat.

DAL4EVER

No I didn't. But then again, I really wasn't looking in that area. Very interesting though. My only concern is the O&D with no feed. But I'm glad we're taking chances. That's the only way to get reward is by risking some.

acl65pilot

These are the routes that they talk about.

The O and D is not going to be from this country but France. It is to provide a better routing for the AF customers connecting through CDG. Now that is a new one.