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SALT LAKE CITY — Delta Air Lines is looking into adding nonstop flights to Asia from Salt Lake City once the new airport is complete, an airline spokesman said Wednesday.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian first started rumors of the change during a January meeting with the Salt Lake Chamber when he mentioned plans for a potential direct flight to Asia once the first phase of the redevelopment of Salt Lake International Airport is completed in fall 2020.
Then Joe Esposito, the airline’s senior vice president of network planning, mentioned something similar during a meeting with the Salt Lake’s Airport Advisory Board, according to the board’s spokeswoman Nancy Volmer.
Related:
Delta CEO touts service improvements on the horizon as Salt Lake airport expands
As Salt Lake City International Airport undergoes a massive $3.6 billion redevelopment, the leader of the nation's second-largest air carrier is touting improved passenger experiences on the ground and in the air when the new facility comes online.On Thursday, Delta acquired a 4.3% stake in joint venture partner Korean Airlines’s parent company in a first step toward expanding across Asia, Reuters reported. While plans aren’t yet finalized, the airline may be looking into a direct flight from Salt Lake to Seoul, Korea, and other possible Asian destinations, according to Volmer.
Esposito said Salt Lake has been Delta’s fastest-growing hub in the United States, Volmer confirmed, and he expects that growth to continue.
Salt Lake’s new airport will have an enlarged and enhanced international terminal to aid in the airline’s goals, and Delta is contributing millions of dollars to the airport’s redevelopment budget. That contribution will help the airline sustain and grow its operation at its Utah hub, Bastian said in January.
"This is a multigenerational investment that we're building so we need to make certain we're building the airport not just of today, but for tomorrow as well," he said.
The airline’s other U.S. hubs are located in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York and Seattle; with international hubs in Amsterdam, London, Mexico City, Paris, São Paulo, Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo abroad.
