Emirates and Delta Air Lines have announced a new partnership as well as 3 new routes.
While American Airlines and Qatar Airways are restarting their partnership (American Airlines & Qatar Airways Restart Partnership + American's Exploring Doha Flights), Delta has decided to pair up with Middle-Eastern carrier Emirates.
This new partnership will allow passengers to connect throughout the United States on Delta and connect passengers beyond Dubai with Emirates.
The two airlines will initially launch a reciprocal codeshare partnership, but eventually plan to create a joint venture. The codeshare partnership will need to be approved by regulatory authorities in the U.S. and UAE, including the U.S. Department of Transportation and the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Transport.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian:
“This is an exciting time for customers of both Delta and Emirates as we launch our trans-Atlantic partnership. Our expanded partnership means a host of new destinations and travel options across Asia and North America, with seamless connectivity, world-class reliability and the industry’s best customer service. The issues that led to the suspension of our Dubai service have been addressed, and we believe launching our codeshare agreement will allow us to provide service to markets that our customers, team members and shareholders value, including new growth opportunities for Delta Air Lines.
Emirates President Tim Clark:
"We are very pleased to secure this strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines — an agreement between two successful and ambitious airlines with a shared common purpose to enhance the customer experience. The deal will bring together two of the world’s largest airline networks, increasing choices for millions of passengers and providing seamless connectivity to a significant number of new destinations, in line with Emirates’ successful growth strategy.
2. Emirates announces Dubai to Austin and San Jose (SJC).
Emirates will be launching a daily service from Dubai to both Austin and San Jose (SJC) beginning October 26, 2020.
As both Austin and San Jose are Delta Air Lines’ focus cities, it makes sense for Emirates to launch flights there.
Both flights are operated using Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The flights are already bookable on Emirates.com
3. Delta Air Lines returns to Dubai.
Finally, Delta Air Lines will return to Dubai after cancelling its Atlanta to Dubai route on February 11, 2016.
Delta Air Lines will resume service between Atlanta and Dubai on December 2, 2020 using the A350-900.
The flight currently isn’t bookable, but the schedule is as follows:
DL008 ATL2207 – 2100+1DXB 359 x267
DL007 DXB2300 – 0728+1ATL 359 x137
Initially, the route will operate three times a week but will increase to daily in March 2021.
What about COVID-19?
Emirates President Tim Clark:
“While COVID-19 is causing forward bookings to plummet, we have decided to go ahead with this plan. We believe demand for air travel will return by the time these new routes begin. As both Austin and San Jose are rapidly-growing tech cities, businesses will need more connections to cities such as Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and more. Nothing is more important to us than our customers’ safety, and we are doing everything we can to ensure the wellbeing of our customers and employees when they fly with us.”
K. it got locked, happy April Fools
Delta/Emirates Announcement & Image Credits
Also watch the video if you haven’t already, lol.
Image credits:
Delta/Emirates combo photo:
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9554710
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/8698314
Emirates 777-300ER JetPhotos: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9221530
Delta A350 JetPhotos: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9167033
Overall, this new partnership will be one of the strongest in the world’s. By connecting Delta’s immense international network with Emirates’ this will truly be a powerful joint venture.
What are your thoughts?