Delta Air Lines Plans Largest-Ever Transatlantic Expansion With Several New European Routes

Delta Air Lines has announced massive expansion plans for the summer 2025 season. In particular, the carrier’s latest move includes additional transatlantic capacity, with new routes connecting American cities to Catania, Naples, Rome, and Milan in Italy, Barcelona (Spain), Dublin (Ireland), and Brussels (Belgium). Clearly, Delta Air Lines’ focus points to Italy for next summer’s expansion. It is also worth noting that Delta says summer 2025 will be its biggest-ever transatlantic summer. The same period this year was Delta’s busiest European summer ever.
New routes and more frequencies
The list of transatlantic service increases the carrier unveiled today are from several of the carrier’s US hubs. These include:
The routes the airline plans to launch are as follows.
The carrier has also planned to increase frequencies on several European routes, including:
Origin Destination New frequency ATL Athens (ATH) 11 (+4) ATL Barcelona (BCN) 10 (+3) ATL Rome (FCO) 17 (+3) ATL Zurich (ZRH) 7 (+3) DTW Munich (MUC) 7 (+3)
The airline’s expansion is fairly significant. It says that this will be its largest ever transatlantic summer. Joe Esposito, Delta’s Senior Vice President of Network Planning said:
“With over 700 weekly flights to 33 European destinations and beyond, we’re expanding access to key cities like Barcelona and Dublin with new routes, while introducing our first-ever nonstop service to Catania, Sicily.”
“We’ve also recently opened a stunning Delta One Lounge at JFK, with more to come at LAX, BOS, and SEA. Alongside the rollout of free international Wi-Fi and increased premium seating across our fleet, we’re ensuring our customers enjoy the best in connectivity and comfort from the moment they arrive at the airport to when they touch down.”
Photo: Delta
The carrier’s new lounge in JFK is larger than any Sky Club in the Delta network. It revealed its new facility earlier this year, in June.
Analyzed: An Italian summer
Delta is adding a total of four new Italian routes this coming summer, which is particularly significant relative to the rest of the service announcements. The airline says it is the largest US carrier in the Italian market. The latest move will see it upping flights by over 10% year-on-year, “providing even more ways for customers to experience la dolce vita.”
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
In August 2024, according to Cirium data, Delta offered 216,000 roundtrip seats on its flights to Italy. Destinations varied, but the primary ones included FCO and MXP.
Naples
Delta is launching a direct flight between its primary hub in Atlanta to Naples. The airline says that this route will allow its US customers to more easily visit the “world-famous Amalfi Coast and the ancient city of Pompeii.”
Delta already flies between JFK and Naples which it launched earlier this year, operating daily. Those flights began on May 23. It became the second US carrier to operate to the city after United.
Rome
The flight from Minneapolis to Rome will begin in May 2025. MSP is the carrier’s second largest hub and will complement existing Delta flights from Atlanta, Boston, Detroit and New York to the Italian capital. Interestingly, Delta labels Rome as “one of the most sought-after European destinations.” Metropolitan Airports Commission CEO and Executive Director Brian Ryks said:
“We appreciate Delta’s continued commitment to MSP with the newest international non-stop route to Rome. Rome has been our top unserved European market, and this addition complements Delta’s robust existing service to Europe from MSP. It also provides Minnesota travelers with another prominent in-demand destination during the peak travel season.”
Photo: Minh K Tran | Shutterstock
The route was previously served by Delta in 2016.
Milan
Delta’s services from Boston to Milan will also begin in May 2025. This will mean BOS’ largest unserved European market will finally be linked, joining existing services from both JFK and ATL. The route has been unserved since 2008.
A new route to Catania
Delta’s new daily flight to CTA beginning May 2025 is particularly interesting, not least because Delta will become the first airline to ever connect the airport to the United States. Nearby Palermo (PMO), on the other hand, has seen flights to North America with several airlines. We took a look at Neos’ new PMO to JFK flight which was launched on June 8. This route is the only current connection between Sicily and North America.
Delta will capitalize on this market by serving a different city. According to booking data for the 12 months ending July 2024, 114,000 passengers travelled roundtrip between the US and CTA compared to 125,000 to PMO. The top destination for CTA was indeed JFK.
These figures have been rounded for simplicity.
New York: 38,000
Boston:13,000
Los Angeles: 11,000
Miami: 10,000
San Francisco: 9,000
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The top three markets for Palermo include JFK, Chicago (ORD) and BOS. By launching direct flights to Sicily, Delta will no doubt stimulate demand. The route will also cater to second-generation Italians looking to rediscover their roots. It said:
“As the first U.S. airline to offer direct flights to Catania, Delta is opening this long-unserved market, providing travelers unparalleled access to Sicily’s rich heritage and breathtaking landscapes.”
More European expansion: new routes
The carrier is also launching new routes to various other European destinations, including Brussels, Barcelona and Dublin.
Barcelona
The new connection from Boston will be served three times a week beginning May 2025. Spanish low-cost carrier LEVEL already operates flights on this sector.
Delta already offers connections to Barcelona from Atlanta and JFK.
Brussels
Operating three times weekly, the route is finally being resumed having last been served by Delta in 2020. The carrier’s Atlanta service will complement the existing flight from JFK to the Belgian capital. Delta’s increased competition might threaten the United Airlines dominance at the European city, which benefits from its cooperation with Brussels Airlines that facilitates onward connections to Africa.
Dublin
A brand-new route between Detroit and Dublin is launching four times a week from May 2025. Delta says this will ubnlock “even more opportunities for customers to explore Ireland’s scenic landscapes and vibrant culture.” It already flies to Dublin from ATL, BOS, JFK and MSP.
Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock
Aside from today’s new routes and frequency increases, Delta says that more of its transatlantic routes will see the A330-900 and A350-900 deployed next summer.