by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:16 PM ET, Thu May 24, 2018
Summer 2018 will be Delta's biggest to date when it comes to trans-Atlantic flight offerings.
Starting Memorial Day weekend, some 11 routes - both new and old favorites - are slated to begin connecting the U.S. and nine countries in Europe.
Portugal, one of the hottest destinations for U.S. travelers, will be the biggest beneficiary of the airline's expanded flight offerings this summer. Delta said in a statement it will increase capacity to the country by more than 200 percent compared to 2017.
In addition to launching service from Atlanta to Lisbon, the airline will begin servicing the Azores for the first time. Delta will fly five times weekly from New York's JFK to the Portuguese island archipelago. Delta is the only airline offering this route to the Azores, which feature unspoiled beaches, Portugal's tallest mountain, colonial villages and home-grown food and wines. The routes complement a daily existing flight from JFK to Lisbon, which launched in summer 2017 and resumed on May 3 as a year-round service.
"Portugal and the Azores are growing in popularity with U.S. tourists, as evidenced by a 30 percent jump in American visitor numbers to Portugal last year. Delta's significant growth in the market will support this upward trend and benefit the local economy through increased tourism," Corneel Koster, senior vice president - Europe, Middle East, Africa & India, told a press conference in Lisbon.
Indianapolis meanwhile is getting its first European departure, a new route to Paris, France, which will operate year-round. More than 40 French businesses have a presence in Indianapolis.
Delta is also bringing back non-stop service from Pittsburgh to Paris as well as an additional frequency from Detroit, bringing to 15 the number of peak-day nonstop services offered to the French capital.
For those flying to the south of France, the longstanding JFK-Nice service restarted last month in time for the iconic Cannes Film Festival.
"Hub-to-hub flying is important to Delta on the trans-Atlantic but travel demand is so high during the summer that we increase our 'point-to-point' network too," Dwight James, senior vice president -Transatlantic, said in a statement. "Throughout the summer season, we are celebrating seven new routes and remain the leading carrier between the U.S. and Europe."
A Minneapolis-Reykjavic route will also return for a second year, along with popular routes between JFK and Glasgow and JFK-Copenhagen.
JFK-Malaga service, now in its 10th year, is also coming back and joins a seasonal Atlanta-Barcelona flight to boost Spain's network.
Rounding out Delta's trans-Atlantic lineup are additional frequencies to Amsterdam, Athens and Rome, as well as the restart of services to Dublin from Atlanta and Boston. These flights join year-round JFK service to the Irish capital, which will celebrate its 30-year anniversary in June.
And finally, next month, Delta will increase its European network even further with the start of nonstop service from Los Angeles to both Paris and Amsterdam. With these two services, Delta will offer up to 85 daily departures from the United States to Europe this summer.
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