Delta Air Lines on Thursday said it plans to add 18 daily nonstop flights to five destinations from Dallas Love Field in October 2014.
The airline’s planned expansion will enhance competition at the airport with new nonstop service to New York-LaGuardia, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Delta said. The airline also plans to add a pair of daily flights to its existing Atlanta service.
Since Delta requires access to gates at Love Field in order to operate its expanded schedule, the airline has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to allow it to bid on Love Field gates. The move is part of the divestiture of airport assets under a proposed settlement agreement with American Airlines and US Airways.
“Our new service at Dallas Love Field means more competition and options for North Texas travelers, and flights to our international hubs will provide convenient connections to international destinations in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa,” said Bob Cortelyou, Delta’s senior vice president – Network Planning. “Dallas/Fort Worth is a top business market and critical to our strategy of connecting the world’s leading cities for business and commerce.”
Currently, at Love Field, 16 of the 20 gates and more than 95 percent of available seats are controlled by one airline, Southwest Airlines, which transports more passengers in the U.S. than any other carrier. Love Field has one of the highest concentrations of operations controlled by a single airline among the nation’s large airports.
The expanded Love Field service builds on Delta’s recent growth at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where it currently operates 45 peak-day flights to eight destinations. Last year, Delta added a new nonstop service between DFW and New York-LaGuardia. It also operates nonstop flights from DFW to Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Memphis and New York-JFK.
