Delta Air Lines has won government approval on both sides of the Atlantic to start new daily flights from London to Boston and Miami.
Following the formal go-ahead from the European Commission (EC) and US Department of Transportation (DoT), the American carrier’s new services will start on March 27, with flight schedules to be announced in the coming week.
Delta applied for the slots earlier this year, after British Airways and American Airlines were forced to relinquish Heathrow slots before the EC and DoT would approve their trans-Atlantic joint venture (JV).
When bidding for the slots, Delta argued that its proposed services would bring the most benefit to customers because Skyteam – the airline alliance of which it is a member - held the smallest percentage of slots at the airport.
Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice-president for network planning, said: "Delta appreciates the efforts of the US Department of Transportation and the European Commission to expand competition between the US and Heathrow by making slots available for new entrants on these routes.”
Delta will operate the new routes in conjuction with its joint venture partners Air France-KLM and Alitalia, and the other Skyteam members.
With the start of the new Boston route, the number of trans-Atlantic routes operated by the JV partner airlines from Boston will rise to four, while from Miami it will rise to five.
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