Delta Launches New Nonstop Service between Seattle and Shanghai

SEATTLE, June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) celebrated new nonstop service from Seattle to Shanghai today with an inaugural service ceremony. The flight is the latest addition to Delta's growing Asian gateway in Seattle, as the service, between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport complements current nonstop service from Seattle to Beijing, Osaka, Tokyo-Narita and most recently, Tokyo-Haneda.

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"Delta's new Shanghai service is the latest step toward building Seattle into a world-class Asian gateway," said Richard Anderson, Delta's chief executive officer. "Seattle's strong business and cultural ties to Asia as well as geographic location make it a natural departing point for flights across the Pacific."

Like all of Delta's trans-Pacific flights, the new Shanghai service features full flat-bed seats in BusinessElite as well as Economy Comfort seating and in-flight entertainment in every seat throughout the aircraft. The flight will operate using a 208-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with 36 full flat-bed seats in BusinessElite, 29 seats in Economy Comfort and 143 Economy class seats.

Shanghai service is Delta's second route between Seattle and China, following Beijing service which began in 2010. In addition to its Asian routes, Delta operates nonstop service from Seattle to Paris and Amsterdam. This summer the airline will operate more than 45 daily flights to 18 destinations worldwide from Seattle.

Delta's recent partnership with Virgin Atlantic also provides the opportunity to offer new service between Seattle and London-Heathrow, pending government approval.

In addition, this summer Delta added a fifth daily flight between Seattle and New York-JFK with upgraded BusinessElite service to match the airline's trans-continental product from Los Angeles and San Francisco to New York.

In Seattle, Delta has enhanced its facility including a new Delta Sky Club, new power ports, expanded ticket counters and lobby renovations as part of its ongoing $3 billion investment to improve products, services and facilities.

Delta's international expansion and customer enhancements in Seattle are enhanced by a strategic partnership between Delta and Alaska Airlines that benefits customers of both carriers and creates more competition and travel options for consumers in the Pacific Northwest region. Customers traveling on Delta's new Shanghai service will have easy connection times to 58 U.S. cities via the two airlines' domestic networks.

From Shanghai, Delta's partnership with China Eastern will also provide extensive connection opportunities throughout China for customers traveling from Seattle.

Delta's schedule between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport:

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. Delta was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2013 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list, topping the list for the second time in three years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 328 destinations in 64 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. Delta is investing more than $3 billion in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta and Facebook.com/delta.

SOURCE Delta Air Lines