Delta Air Lines this winter will add 16 new routes from its West Coast gateway at Los Angeles International Airport to accommodate soaring demand in one of the country’s largest travel markets for Hispanic customers. The expansion will include new nonstop flights to nine Mexican destinations, two Central American destinations and corresponding connecting service to five destinations in the United States where many Hispanic customers prefer to travel.

“Los Angeles is at the heart of Hispanic culture in the United States and we are pleased to expand our service to meet the needs of our customers in this growing West Coast market,” said Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s executive vice president of Network and Revenue Management.

“With new service both southbound and northbound from Los Angeles, our customers will find it much easier to travel between the top destinations in Mexico, Central America and most any point in the United States.”

Added Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa: “This is welcome news for both business and leisure travelers to our city. We appreciate Delta Air Lines making such a strong commitment and investment to Los Angeles International Airport and the City of Los Angeles. This is a dynamic and growing market and we are happy that Delta made Los Angeles its destination of choice to expand service.”

Complementing its growth in Southern California, Delta also will continue to expand services between Mexico and other U.S. hubs and gateways, where Delta has already added a dozen new routes this year. Delta plans to begin new nonstop service between Atlanta and Leon/Guanajuato, Mexico, effective Dec. 1; to add a second daily round-trip flight between New York-JFK and Mexico City, effective Dec. 15; and to add new nonstop flights connecting Salt Lake City and Orlando with Mexico City as soon as December, both of which are subject to foreign government approval. Additionally, Delta has filed for DOT approvals to offer customers nonstop service between Salt Lake City and Guadalajara; and between Los Angeles and Los Mochis and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, all of which also are subject to foreign government approvals.

“During 2006 Delta has become the fastest growing U.S. airline to Mexico and next year we will be pleased to offer customers service to nearly 20 Mexican destinations—three times as many as we offered just two years ago,” Hauenstein said.

Based on current airline schedules, the new flights are expected to position Delta as the second-largest U.S. carrier in the Mexican market by March 2007 in terms of destinations served.

Delta’s new service from Los Angeles now is available for sale via delta.com and other ticketing channels and will be operated using a mix of Boeing 737-800 aircraft and 50- and 70-seat Bombardier regional jets operated by Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines.

To celebrate the new routes, Delta is offering customers special low introductory fares for travel between Mexico, Central America and the United States. Customers should act fast, however, as these discounted fares must be purchased no later than Aug. 29, 2006.

Delta’s continued expansion into Mexico builds on more than 50 new routes added or announced to Latin American and the Caribbean in the last year as part of the largest international expansion in Delta’s history.

In recent months, Delta has started service to new nonstop destinations including Acapulco and Merida, Mexico, and San Pedro Sula and Roatan, Honduras from Atlanta; Mazatlan, Mexico from Salt Lake City; and Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, Mexico from New York-JFK.

From Los Angeles, Delta offers 42 daily flights to 17 nonstop destinations, including long-haul domestic flights to Atlanta, New York-JFK, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Hartford, Columbus, Ohio, Cincinnati and Raleigh-Durham; international flights to Guadalajara, Cancun and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo; and Hawaii service to Honolulu and Maui. With this winter’s expansion, Delta plans to offer 63 daily flights to 33 destinations from Los Angeles by March 2007.

Delat Air Lines has been nominated in this year’s World Travel Awards in the category of North America’s Leading Airline.
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