Delta files for more frequencies to Brazil

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to add additional nonstop flights between Sao Paulo and the key business markets of New York (JFK) and Atlanta, increasing competition on air service between the U.S. and Brazil.

If approved, Delta will begin second daily Sao Paulo flights to both Atlanta and New York in 2013.

Delta currently operates 35 nonstop weekly flights between Brazil and the U.S. including Atlanta, Detroit and New York-JFK to Sao Paulo, as well as from Atlanta to Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.

Delta’s proposed addition of a second daily flight between Sao Paulo and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York’s marks another important step in Delta’s plan to invest and grow at New York. The new flight will operate out of the expanded and enhanced state-of the-art International Terminal 4, which opens its doors in 90 days amid a $1.4 billion million terminal expansion project.

In its filing, Delta also requested approval to continue its daily nonstop service between its hub in Detroit and Sao Paulo. Delta’s right to operate that flight will transfer to US Airways in 2015 as part of a previously approved slot transaction that allowed Delta to expand at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

This is the first time in more than a decade that the Department of Transportation has the opportunity to allocate new Sao Paulo frequencies.  These opportunities arise as direct result of the U.S. government’s success in negotiating a new air service agreement with Brazil, which is expected to result in a full Open Skies agreement by 2015.

The new frequencies would be served with Delta’s 767-300 ER equipped with state-of-the-art flatbed seats, video on demand entertainment system, and award-winning food and wine service, Ferri said.  The 767 has a capacity of 210 passengers, 35 Business Elite, 32 Economy Comfort and 143 economy class seats.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Boeing 767-332 ER N172DZ (msn 29691) climbs briskly away from the runway at Tokyo (Narita)

Delta Air Lines: AG Slide Show