ATLANTA- Delta Air Lines (DL), the second-largest US carrier by passengers, has launched four new routes in just two days. One route began on June 6, while the other three started on June 7, marking a notable burst of network expansion from the SkyTeam member.
The new services connect Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), along with new links from Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) to Kansas City International Airport (MCI). Delta also became the first North American airline to serve the island nation of Malta (MLA).
Delta Returns to Hong Kong After Eight Years
On Saturday, June 6, Delta resumed flights from its growing Los Angeles hub to Hong Kong. The carrier operates the route daily using the high-premium, 275-seat Airbus A350-900.
Delta is the third passenger airline on the route, joining Cathay Pacific and United Airlines. Cirium Diio data shows that three nonstop carriers last served the pair in 2020, when American Airlines flew it. Delta’s arrival lifts total frequency back to six daily flights.
The Los Angeles to Hong Kong service departs at 11:05 PM and arrives at 5:05 AM two days later. The return leg leaves Hong Kong at 9:25 AM and lands the same day at 7:55 AM.
This launch marks Delta’s return to Hong Kong after last serving the city in 2018. The airline previously flew there from its Seattle hub, with a one-stop operation that called at Tokyo Narita. Delta inherited that route from Northwest, and the new nonstop service now replaces it, Simple Flying reported.
Delta Makes History in Malta
On Sunday, June 7, Delta became the first US and North American airline to schedule flights to the small island of Malta.
The service operates three times weekly on the 216-seat Boeing 767-300ER, which is the airline’s second-lowest-capacity widebody configuration.
Financial incentives and possible risk-sharing agreements support the route. These arrangements give the new service a stronger chance of long-term success.
Los Angeles to Chicago O’Hare Joins the Map
The route from Los Angeles to Chicago O’Hare covers 1,515 nautical miles (2,806 km) each way and is brand-new to Delta’s network. Launched on June 7, the carrier operates between 20 and 21 times a week, or up to three daily flights, using the Boeing 737-800.
Delta is LAX’s leading operator by passengers, flights, and seats for sale. It ranks second, after United, for available seat miles. Despite this strength, the carrier wants to grow its dominance further, a goal shaped in part by American’s reduced presence at the airport.
In the 12 months to February 2026, just under 1.5 million round-trip passengers flew between Los Angeles and Chicago O’Hare. That figure equals more than 4,100 daily passengers who traveled only between the two cities. It ranked as the 14th most-trafficked airport pair in the US.
Without nonstop flights, Delta previously held just 2% of the market. Most of its passengers connected through its Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and Seattle hubs.
Following the exit of the now-defunct Spirit Airlines, American, Delta, Frontier, and United now fly nonstop, with up to 25 daily departures each way.
Austin to Kansas City Strengthens a Focus City
Austin is a fast-growing focus city in Delta’s network. Cirium data shows the airline has 5.5 million two-way seats for sale in 2026, which beats the previous record set last year by 14%. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, only 2.6 million seats were available.
Several new routes have driven this growth. They include the June 7 launch of service to Kansas City, mainly flown 13 times a week on SkyWest Embraer E175s. Delta joins Southwest Airlines on the route and becomes the second operator since American withdrew in 2024. Between 2013 and 2016, no nonstop flights existed at all.
In the year to February, the airport pair carried 162,000 round-trip local passengers, making Kansas City the 31st-largest market from Austin. Delta may have been drawn by the 27,000 passengers (17%) who flew indirectly via Dallas, with American and Southwest, or Houston, with United and Southwest.
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