Delta’s world domination…er…global expansion continues!
So today’s announcement that Delta will begin nonstop service between Los Angeles and Sydney starting in July ‘09 is probably the most exciting new service announcement of the year…for me at least.
There have been whisperings and rumors of the SYD service for more than a year on Airliners.net and FlyerTalk and the ‘land down under’ has long been one of the most requested destinations of Delta customers and Delta employees. As someone who holds U.S. and Australian citizenship, Sydney service has been a long time coming and I couldn’t be more excited!
What’s great is that DL16 and DL17 provide easy, one-stop access to and from the East Coast (Atlanta, New York/JFK) and the Midwest (Cincinnati, Detroit Memphis and Minneapolis).
And what’s even better than THAT is the aircraft we’ll be using will be a brand new 777-200LR, complete with full lie-flat sleeper suites up front and slim-line seats with a bit of extra leg room in the back. And (here’s where I plug the in-flight entertainment system) everyone on the plane gets Delta on Demand with more than 200 movies, 100 hours of HBO on demand, 100 hours of TV, a suite of games and 4,000 mp3s. That’s sure to make the 15 hour flight to Australia go by a little faster!
So with SYD announced, that means Delta is the only U.S. carrier offering service to six continents (Antarctica doesn’t yet have a landing strip that can easily accomodate a widebody commercial airliner).
Oh…and as an added incentive to check out the Southern Hemisphere, we’re offering some pretty incredible introductory fares between LAX and SYD….$499 each way.
Some cool facts about the trip:
- LAX-SYD is 7,488 statute miles
- 15 hours LAX-SYD
- 13:45 hours SYD-LAX
The 777-200LR:
- Will carry 248,000lbs (112,491 kg) of fuel Westbound
- Will weigh 733,000lbs (332,483 kg) at takeoff
- Offers comfortable leather-appointed accomodations for 278 passengers
- Has a range of 10,840 miles (17,446 km)
- Has a cruising speed of 561 mph (902km/h)
- Has the longest range of any commercial airliner in the world
Check it out:
Chris B.
Product Manager – Customer Experience
In-Flight Entertainment
December 18th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Woohoo! This is fantastic – it’s a new continent for Delta!
I took DL 16 once… only ATL-JFK though. It would be so cool if you could make a round-the-world scheduled flight: SYD-LAX-ATL-JFK-BOM-SYD. But I can see how that would never work (maybe a promotional flight though… =)
December 18th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Sweet, before I had to take a Korea Air flight to get to Australia.
Now JFK, LAX, Australia!
December 19th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Ok… on a positive… it is great that Delta can get us to Australia now. It is an amazing place to see.
Now a bit of a complaint…. When the first 2 777-LRs were delivered and started on the India route, Delta announced they would be refitting the existing 777-ER with the new flatbeds (“starting in 2008, completion in 2009″) then working on the 767s. In speaking with a reservation agent yesterday, I was told the plan is now to do the planes going to London (because BA has lie flat seats) and then Sao Paulo (London and Sao Paulo are all 767s) and then “they’ll get to the Asia routes”. The flight from Atlanta to Shanghai is over 15 hours.. longer than LAX-SYD. Come on……
December 19th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
That more competition is being introduced on this route is great news for me….but where are these introductory fares? When I do a search for LAX to SYD in July ‘09 I can only find flights for $5400!
December 21st, 2008 at 12:04 pm
This is great news! If DL ever did an ATW offering I would jump on it. I tend to agree with the last poster, I flew ATL-DXB on DL versus Emirates earlier this year and that long of a flight that seemed quite full seemed it could really benefit from newer product to capitalize on the demand and higher paying pax.
Great news though! Here comes Australia!
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:53 am
I have an off topic suggestion for you Chris that kind of has to do with what clintonuws was saying. In a way, I think it is good that the 777-200ERs have not yet been refitted because I think it might be better if they as well as the next few LRs, the 747s and the A330s have the 767 style lie-flat seats (Thompson Solutions) rather than the 777-200LR style lie flats. It seems that with the Thompson Solutions lie flats, you guys can fit more seats into the cabin (according to Thomposon Solutions’ website). In addition passengers are actually able to sit next to each other if they wish and people at the window can actually see out the window. I would really like to know your reasoning for doing the “hearing-bone” style on your 777s instead of Thompson Solutions. PLEASE RESPOND. Thank you.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Love it! – Love all the incredible new destinations that no one else flies to!
January 10th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Skymiler, you have a great point of view on the matter. I will be flying with somebody so having 2 seats next to each other would be preferable and all I want is to be able to lie totally flat to sleep. The pod privacy is not important to me. I like the pictures of what they proposed for the 767s.
To my previous “complaint”, I recently noticed that Delta is adding the 777-LR to the ATL-PVG flight mid-year. Excellent. Thanks!
But, new compliant,… are the moderators reading our comments? “Chris” did not respond even after your wrote “PLEASE RESPOND”.
It would be nice if this blog was interactive with actual Delta staff knowledgable about the topics.
MODERATORS, PLEASE READ OUR COMMENTS AND RESPOND WHEN APPROPRIATE. THANKS
January 17th, 2009 at 12:14 am
How many Delta MILES will it take to fly from Atlanta to Sydney….and from LAX to SYD? I think this is great news! Now I know why I’ve been saving my miles for so long!
April 17th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Yeah! Australia is a perfect place for a vacation. And Delta can help to travel their cheap! Finally!
Vacation in Australia