Delta Plans Atlanta-Seoul Service from 2017, with Expanded Korean Air Codeshare

Delta Air Lines will launch non-stop daily service between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Seoul’s Incheon International Airport on June 3, 2017.

The service will be operated by 291-seat Boeing 777-200LRs, each configured with 37 Delta One business class seats, 36 Delta Comfort+ seats and 218 Main Cabin seats.

The Boeing 777-200LR is the longest-haul aircraft type in Delta Air Lines’ huge fleet. Delta operates 10 of the ultra-long-haul widebodies

Additionally, Delta and Korean Air have applied to expand their joint codeshare agreement. They plan to launch their expanded codesharing in  the fourth quarter of this year, subject to receiving the requisite governmental approvals.

Atlanta-based Delta’s new Atlanta flight will complement Korean Air’s existing Seoul-Atlanta service, according to the U.S. carrier. Their combined Atlanta-Seoul schedules will see Delta and Korean Air offering round-trip connectivity to 142 destinations in the Americas and 33 destinations in Asia.

“Delta and Korean Air are expanding a 20-plus year trans-Pacific partnership, and we believe the new Delta service between Atlanta and Seoul in conjunction with an enhanced partnership with Korean solidifies our joint position as leading carriers in the U.S.-Asia market,” says Steve Sear, Delta’s president – international and also its executive vice president – global sales.

“Our expanded partnership with Delta allows our customers to travel more conveniently with more options between Asia and the Americas, strengthening our position as the world’s largest trans-Pacific airline,” says Walter Cho, Korean Air’s chief operating officer. “Travelers will benefit from the combined network strength of Korean Air and Delta, resulting in greater schedule flexibility and increased frequency.”

By July 2012, Korean Air had a total of 16 Boeing 777-300ERs in service and on order, after placing a follow-up order for two 777-300ERs on July 20 of that month

Under the two carrier’s expanded codeshare agreement, Korean will place its ‘KE’ code on Delta’s Atlanta-Seoul service along with flights to 115 U.S. and Canada destinations beyond Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York City.

Korean will also add its code to Delta’s flights to São Paulo in Brazil from both Atlanta and New York.

Delta will expand its codeshare footprint to 32 Korean Air destinations beyond Seoul, including Taipei, Osaka, Singapore, Nagoya and Okinawa.

The airline will also place its code on Korean Air’s flights from San Francisco and Houston to Seoul.

Delta Air Lines includes 10 Boeing 777-200LRs within its large long-haul fleet

Delta’s planned schedule for its Atlanta-Seoul service calls for flight DL89 to depart Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (IATA code ATL) at 1:05 p.m. daily from June 3, 2017 and arrive at Incheon International Airport (ICN) at 4:45 p.m. the next day, local time, after crossing the International Dateline.

In the other direction, flight DL88 will leave ICN at 6:30 p.m. daily from June 4 and land at ATL at 7:40 p.m. the same day, local time, again after crossing the International Dateline.

Delta and Korean are two of the four founding members of the SkyTeam alliance, which began offering services in 2000.