Delta Air Lines will launch two new international routes in 2025. One will take passengers to Europe and the other to Asia.
On the transatlantic front, the Atlanta-based carrier will build on plans for its biggest summer schedule ever to Europe with a new nonstop service from its hub at Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) to Copenhagen Airport (CPH).
Delta said the move was helped by its recent codeshare agreement with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), following the carrier’s move from Star Alliance to SkyTeam in September.
Meanwhile, Delta will resume nonstop operations next summer from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. This will strengthen the limited air service between the US and China that remains below 2019 levels.
Here’s what you need to know about this new service.
New service between MSP and Denmark
Delta’s first flight from its MSP hub to CPH will depart in May 2025, the carrier shared on Friday.
The airline will fly the route three times each week with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft, refitted with its three-cabin configuration featuring Delta One suites and its Premium Select product.
SAS relationship strengthened
In announcing the new service, Delta executives highlighted the recent merger between the airline and SAS. SAS became an official SkyTeam partner in September after the Air France-KLM group acquired a small part of the company.
“This route creates an important connection between two major SkyTeam partner destinations, providing unparalleled connectivity and travel options for customers traveling between Scandinavia and North America,” Delta senior vice president of network planning Joe Esposito said in a statement on Friday.
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Since joining SkyTeam, SAS has similarly expanded its presence in major Delta destinations, including new service from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and back to the Pacific Northwest.
Plus, you can now book SAS award flights using Delta SkyMiles.
Europe’s biggest summer plans for 2025
This Copenhagen route will also strengthen Delta’s already full summer 2025 transatlantic plans.
Minneapolis-to-Copenhagen will give Delta seven European nonstops from the hub city next summer. This includes flights to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO), which Delta revealed during the latest unveiling of its busiest summer schedule ever in 2025.
Between June and August next year, Delta will use about 5% more seats in Europe than it was already busy by 2024, according to data from aviation analytics company Cirium.
Delta is slowly adding China service
Delta said Friday that, pending government approval, its service from LA to Shanghai will return next June.
Delta has not flown this route since the early days of 2020, after operating more than 300 round trips between the two cities in 2019.
The decline in service to China only goes beyond Delta, however.
Air service to China is below 2019 levels
Air service between the US and China remains well below pre-pandemic levels. That’s due to a combination of global uncertainty, low demand and logistical challenges from airlines needing to avoid Russian airspace amid that country’s war in Ukraine.
By 2024, the total number of seats between the US and China – among all airlines – will decrease by 75% compared to 2019 levels, Cirium data shows.
He continued in 2025
However, more service is coming. In the first half of 2025, seats to China on Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines will increase by more than 90%, year-over-year, per Cirium.
Delta’s China-only service in recent years has included nonstop flights to Shanghai from Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport (DTW) and Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
This new route will give the carrier a third connection between the US and China and a total of 17 weekly flights between the two countries.
Details for LAX-PVG
Delta plans to fly this route three times each week with an Airbus A350. Delta One passengers on those flights will be eligible to use the new, brand-new Delta One Lounge inside Terminal 3 at LAX, which just opened Thursday.
The 10,000-square-foot facility has a dedicated lounge and an inspection area for the Transportation Security Administration.
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