Delta Air Lines Plans Salt Lake City – Seoul Service

Delta Air Lines is preparing to launch its first scheduled transpacific flight from its growing hub in Salt Lake City (SLC), with Seoul Incheon (ICN) as the chosen destination.

Delta Air Lines Plans Salt Lake City – Seoul Flight, First Transpacific Service From SLC

While American and United have joint venture partners in Japan that funnel much of East Asia traffic through Tokyo, Delta’s strongest transpacific partner is Seoul-based Korean Airlines. As a result, Delta funnels more flights via Seoul, offering nonstop service from:

Atlanta (ATL)
Detroit (DTW)
Minneapolis (MSP)
Seattle (SEA)

Via JonNYC, Salt Lake City will become the latest city to offer nonstop service to the South Korean capital:

DL: pic.twitter.com/tUeKCyCI07

— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) September 24, 2024

That’s all we have at this point, so no info yet on start date, frequency, or aircraft type (though I’d guess it will start in the spring, operate daily, and utilize an A330-900neo aircraft).

Delta has operated transpacific charter flights for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) to Asia, but this would mark the first scheduled service. In the other direction, Delta serves Amsterdam (AMS), London (LHR), and Paris (CDG) from SLC.

Salt Lake City – Growing Hub

Delta has labeled Salt Lake City as its fastest-growing “core” hub. Delta is in the midst of a multi-year transformation of its terminal real estate in SLC and plans continued growth, including a 7% growth in 2025 (versus 2024).

Currently, Delta is more of a domestic connecting hub (like Denver for United) but the launch of more international marks an exciting next chapter for Detla at SLC.

CONCLUSION

Delta is adding new service between Salt Lake City and Seoul in 2025, its first transpacific route from its fastest-growing hub. The route has not been formally announced but is all but a given considering the leaked slide deck above.

image: Steven Byles / Flickr