Delta Air Traces will open its solely Persian Gulf route in October 2026.
That’s when the Atlanta-based SkyTeam Alliance service will launch new service from its Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL) hub to King Khalid Worldwide Airport (RUH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sure, Saudi Arabia.
The brand new RUH route will probably be flown with one in every of Delta’s Airbus A350-900 plane outfitted with Delta One enterprise class suites, in addition to premium financial system, extra-legroom financial system and financial system seats.
A Delta spokesperson stated extra particulars concerning the new route, together with when tickets go on sale, will probably be launched at a later date.
The brand new ATL-RUH route may also, based mostly on present schedules, be the fourth longest on Delta’s map at 7,283 miles, in line with Nice Circle Mapper.
The Center Jap route is Delta’s newest intercontinental addition in 2026. The checklist contains Hong Kong Worldwide Airport (HKG), Malta Worldwide Airport (MLA), Porto Airport (OPO) and Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (SLB) on the Italian island of Sardinia. The service can be including a variety of new routes to present locations.
The RUH flights are additionally the most recent signal of Delta’s transfer nearer to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Lengthy a companion of the nation’s flag service, Saudia, Delta additionally unveiled a brand new strategic partnership with the nation’s startup flagship airline, Riyadh Air, in 2024.
Riyadh Air, led by former Etihad Airways CEO Tony Douglas, goals to satisfy a twin mandate of each boosting customer numbers to the dominion and claiming a chunk of the profitable connecting visitors flows between Europe and Asia. The airline made one thing of a gentle launch on Oct. 26 with its first flight from RUH to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR); the flights are essential to take care of its use-it-or-lose-it LHR slots and are solely obtainable in the meanwhile to workers.
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The Delta spokesperson stated they plan to codeshare with Riyadh Air on the brand new ATL-RUH route.
American Airways and United Airways each serve the hubs of their Gulf companions — Qatar Airways and Emirates, respectively — within the area. The previous flies to Doha’s Hamad Worldwide Airport (DOH) from Philadelphia Worldwide Airport (PHL), and the latter to Dubai Worldwide Airport (DXB) from Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR).
Delta’s new RUH flight would be the first by a U.S. airline to Saudi Arabia since now-defunct Trans World Airways ended flights there in 2001. The service merged with American later that yr.
The Delta spokesperson stated there was “nothing finalized” on any potential monetary subsidies from the Saudi authorities to the airline for the brand new route.
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