SAO PAULO – Delta has filed for regulatory approval to increase its new nonstop service between Orlando and Sao Paulo from four times per week to daily. Delta will begin service in the market four times per week beginning Dec. 19, and expects to start serving the cities on a daily basis Feb. 20.
In June Delta announced that it would have four U.S. gateways to Sao Paulo, giving customers the option of flying through New York, Orlando, Atlanta and Detroit. In addition, the Sao Paulo-Orlando flight will offer convenient connections to nine major U.S. destinations, including Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York (LGA and JFK) and Raleigh.
Further, Delta’s alliance with Brazilian airline GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes extends the reach of the Orlando-Sao Paulo service to 32 Brazilian destinations and provides seamless connections at Guarulhos International Airport.
“It is exciting to have the opportunity to have a daily direct flight connecting Sao Paulo to Orlando and to offer customers the reach of GOL’s network with over 700 weekly codeshare flights to Brazil’s interior,” said Nicolas Ferri, Delta’s Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Delta’s continued expansion of routes important to Latin American customers demonstrates our commitment to the region and keeps us in line with our promise to be the best U.S. airline in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
The new service will be operated using a Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 35 flat-bed seats with direct aisle access in Delta One cabin, 32 seats in Delta Comfort+ and 143 seats in the Main Cabin.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines announces new Raleigh-Durham -> Paris flight
RALEIGH – Delta will connect the Research Triangle to the world with nonstop service from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport beginning May 12, 2016. The flights will be available for sale beginning Saturday.
The flight will operate in conjunction with the airline’s European joint venture partners Air France, KLM and Alitalia using 164-seat, Boeing 757-200ER aircraft.
“The Research Triangle is an important market for Delta, and our new Paris flight is the latest in a series of Delta investments in the region, both at the airport and in the community,” said Bob Somers, Delta’s Vice President – Global Sales. “For business or leisure, we look forward to serving our customers across the Atlantic as we strengthen our relationship with the region, and the region’s ties to the world.”
From Delta’s joint venture hub in Paris, customers can connect to more than 75 onward destinations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, increasing global access for a region with strong international ties through its world-class universities and global companies. The daily flight will be Delta’s 13th destination from Paris and the only nonstop link between the two cities.
“RDU and Delta Air Lines have been business partners for more than 40 years. During this time, Delta has increased its presence at RDU to meet the demand of our region, which it does today with nonstop service to 20 cities,” said Mike Landguth, CEO and President of RDU Airport Authority. “Today, we celebrate Delta’s latest expansion in our market with nonstop service to Paris’ Charles-DeGaulle International Airport. We thank Delta for its continued investment in our community and for connecting our region to the world.”
“Air service development, particularly international service, is a key element in the competitiveness and growth of the Research Triangle Park. Global collaboration and face-to-face communication supports research and opens economic development doors worldwide for the Park, our region and the state,” said Bob Geolas, CEO and President of the Research Triangle Foundation. “The future of the RTP is intertwined with RDU. Together we will ensure that those who enter our port of entry to do business in our region have a world-class experience second to none.”
Delta is the largest airline at Raleigh-Durham International Airport with more than 60 daily departures, and the new flight is just one component of Delta’s recent investments in the region.
The Delta Sky Club at RDU now offers enhanced food options, premium drink offerings, Starbucks coffee and an automated, self-service espresso machine. In August, Delta launched an alliance with Duke University to embed the airline and its employees in campus and alumni events, academics and career recruiting and counseling, all in an effort to become a lifelong travel partner to future customers. Delta also enjoys an existing marketing agreement with University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
Delta Air Lines
N845MH gets a new livery for Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October)
Fresh from the paint shop, Delta’s latest “Pink Plane” took to the skies just days before it’s set to fly a cabin full of employees who have survived breast cancer or are battling the disease on the airline’s 11th annual Breast Cancer Survivor Flight.
The Boeing 767-400ER, which has featured a pink-themed livery since 2010, was due for a repaint so teams in Delta’s Marketing department as well as those in Delta’s Technical Operations division – the airline’s maintenance department – worked together to design a refreshed look while taking advantage of a unique paint formula to wrap the fuselage in a pink ribbon.
Graphics specialist Joel Freeland in TechOps used AutoCAD software to create a full-scale image showing how, exactly, the design would wrap around the fuselage. It’s challenging to take a flat design and adapt it to a 3-D plane with all its curves, so a trial was done first on a small-scale model.
Then came time to paint. Talented aircraft painters, many of whom have brought to life special liveries and designs over the past several decades, got to work, carefully layering on the unique shade of pink across the expanse of the widebody jet. Painters used a special paint containing a pigment that reflects about 90 percent of visible light, compared to 30 percent of normal paint.
Once finished and dried, the plane was put back into service today headed to Amsterdam, spreading breast cancer awareness across the globe.
“It’s always nice to have the opportunity to be involved in something that has this much impact on someone’s family that has been touched by [breast cancer],” Freeland said.
This was the first Delta aircraft painted for the season – Delta typically paints aircraft from fall through early spring. The airline will paint about 80 or more Delta jets each season.
Breast cancer survivor flight
Delta’s employee survivor flight, which formally kicks off the airline’s breast cancer awareness and fundraising campaign for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, takes place on Oct. 1.
Employees, customers and their friends and families have raised $9.2 million for BCRF since 2005, including last year’s effort of $1.3 million. Delta’s contributions have funded the vital work of 37 different research projects over the years in the pursuit of eradicating breast cancer.
Delta Air Lines