Cargo Demand Drives Return of Delta Flights to Germany, U.K. and India
Demand for air cargo is driving the return of Delta's passenger services from the United States to Germany and the U.K. for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic closed borders. Beginning May 21, 2020, flights to Frankfurt and London will operate three times weekly from Atlanta and Detroit, respectively. The flights will also be available for customer travel.
The Frankfurt service will be operated using an Airbus A330-300 aircraft with 31 tons of cargo capacity, while a Boeing 767-300 will fly to Heathrow with 26 tons of cargo capacity.
Furthermore, the consolidation of operations at Frankfurt Airport means Delta’s flights are temporarily moving from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1. At London Heathrow, Delta has moved from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2. There are limited retail outlets open at both airports and all lounges are currently closed.
Delta’s Atlanta-Frankfurt service will operate as follows:
Flight |
Departs |
Arrives |
Frequency |
DL15 |
Frankfurt at 11:40 |
Atlanta at 15:40 |
Wednesday, Friday, Sunday |
DL14 |
Atlanta at 17:55 |
Frankfurt at 08:55 (next day) |
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday |
Delta’s Detroit-London Heathrow service will operate as follows:
Flight |
Departs |
Arrives |
Frequency |
DL17 |
London Heathrow at 12:55 |
Detroit at 16:30 |
Wednesday, Friday, Sunday |
DL16 |
Detroit at 18:00 |
London Heathrow at 08:55 (next day) |
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday |
Delta is also launching scheduled cargo-only flights between New York-JFK and Mumbai, India, this month, subject to foreign government approval.
Meanwhile, following the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta has implemented a number of measures to keep its customers safe on board and in airports. These include:
- Sanitizing the aircraft before every flight
- Using state-of-the-art air circulation systems with HEPA filters that extract more than 99.999% of viruses
- Capping capacity throughout the aircraft to ensure onboard customer spacing
- Adjusting the boarding process to encourage more space for safer travel by boarding all flights from back-to-front – reducing the instances of customers needing to pass by one another
- Providing supplies directly to customers when available, including hand sanitizers
- Requiring employees and customers to wear a face mask or appropriate covering when travelling