Delta Air Lines will be expanding service to Asia out of its Seattle hub, with an exciting new route.
In this post:
Delta returns to Taipei with new route out of Seattle
As of June 7, 2024, Delta will add a new daily, year-round flight between Seattle (SEA) and Taipei (TPE). The flight will operate with the following schedule:
DL69 Seattle to Taipei departing 11:15AM arriving 3:15PM (+1 day)
DL68 Taipei to Seattle departing 5:25PM arriving 2:05PM
The 6,074-mile flight is blocked at 13hr westbound and 11hr40min eastbound. Delta will use an Airbus A330-900neo for the route, featuring 281 seats. This includes 29 business class (Delta One) seats, 28 premium economy (Premium Select) seats, and 224 economy class (Main Cabin) seats.
If you’re looking to redeem SkyMiles for this flight, award flights start at 1,800,000 miles in Delta One, or 360,000 miles in Main Cabin. Just kidding. I mean, I’m kidding in the sense that I didn’t actually check, but I’m probably not that far off!
This new route is a pretty significant addition. Delta has never flown nonstop from the United States to Taipei. However, until 2017 the airline did operate a fifth freedom flight there, from Tokyo Narita.
Here’s how Delta’s Managing Director of Global Sales for Seattle describes this new route:
“This route not only opens new doors to Taipei’s captivating skyline, vibrant night markets, and rich cultural heritage, but it also marks a significant stride in enhancing Seattle’s global connectivity. This strategic addition to Delta’s trans-Pacific portfolio is poised to make a profound impact on the Seattle market, fostering increased business and leisure travel opportunities for our discerning customers.”
I have to give Delta executives credit for consistently putting out the loftiest quotes about new routes. This is a market that’s already well served (as I’ll talk about below), but Delta still claims this will make a “profound impact” on the market for “discerning customers” (because surely discerning customers wouldn’t want to fly with second rate airlines like EVA Air). 😉
This is an interesting route for Delta to add
Currently the only US airline flying to Taipei is United, which operates service out of San Francisco. So Delta will now be the second US airline to fly to Taiwan. The decision to launch a Seattle to Taipei route is an interesting one:
- EVA Air operates Seattle to Taipei flights with 7-10x weekly frequencies; EVA Air is in Star Alliance, so has fairly limited connectivity in Seattle, aside from United flights
- Starlux Airlines plans to launch a Seattle to Taipei route in 2024, and has a partnership with Alaska, so will have quite a bit of connectivity there
- I wouldn’t necessarily assume this is related, but Alaska Airlines is hoping to acquire Hawaiian Airlines, which means the airline will resume flights to Asia, assuming this all gets approved
I’m not sure whether to be surprised by this route or not. On the one hand, Delta is well positioned for this route in terms of demand and connecting traffic. The airline has a big domestic network in Seattle to feed into this, and also partners with SkyTeam carrier China Airlines in Taipei, so will have connectivity there as well.
Delta hasn’t added much creative Asia service recently, and has almost been entirely focused on flights to Seoul Incheon, and feeding into Korean Air’s network, given the joint venture between the airlines.
So while Delta is well positioned in Seattle in terms of connectivity, the airline also has a significant cost disadvantage. Delta has a much higher cost structure than carriers like EVA Air. While Taipei is a market with a ton of demand, it’s not necessarily the highest yield market.
This seems to me like an offensive move intended to send a message to Starlux, and to generally fight against Alaska. I feel like Delta probably wouldn’t launch this route if it weren’t for competitive reasons. I’m curious to see how the market evolves, and if three airlines can coexist…
Bottom line
As of June 2024, Delta will launch a new daily nonstop flight between Seattle and Taipei using an Airbus A330-900neo. This will be the first time that Delta flies nonstop from the United States to Taipei, and it comes at an interesting time.
This is a market that’s already served by EVA Air, and it’s one that Starlux plans to launch soon as well. Can this route sustain three carriers? Only time will tell…
What do you make of Delta launching Taipei flights? Do you think Delta, EVA, and Starlux, can all succeed in the market?
