Delta Air Lines adds new Airbus A350-900 routes from Seattle & Atlanta

Atlanta-based legacy carrier Delta Air Lines has long been the only major US airline to extensively prefer Airbus widebody aircraft to those built by US-based manufacturer Boeing.

With the many ongoing issues the planemaker is having, this may be paying some dividends, with Delta seeing fewer delays in delivery timelines.

The airline, which has placed an order for 44 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, of which around 34 have already been delivered, is preparing for its latest bout of A350 network expansion.

For starters, the aircraft will be deployed by Delta starting next year on several routes out of the airline's Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) hub, which serves in many ways as the linchpin of the airline's transpacific network (although those traveling to Australia are far more likely to connect through Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

These new routes will see the A350 enter service between Seattle and Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport (TPE).

Eventually, A350 service will also be added between the West Coast city and Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND).

This continued expansion of the airline's long-haul network will allow the carrier to add more capacity to many high-demand routes between Seattle and Asian business hubs, where introducing newer, more spacious Delta One suites will be popular with passengers.

By the time the summer of 2025 rolls around, Delta will use its A350-900 fleet to serve its route between Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) and São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) in Brazil.

Delta Air Lines will begin this latest bout of Airbus A350 service expansion in late March when it will introduce Airbus A350s to the nonstop routes between Seattle, Taiwan, and Seoul.

Currently, the route to Seoul is operated by an Airbus A330-900neo, another one of the most modern aircraft in the airline's fleet, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

This means that the carrier is not looking to improve fuel efficiency by swapping the aircraft on this route, but rather to increase capacity.

The A350-900 that will be operating this service is set to be equipped with 306 seats, a slight increase over the A330-900neo's 281.

The Taiwan route is also operated by the A330-900neo. Here are some route statistics for April from aviation analytics company Cirium:

Starting in late May, the A350-900 will make its first appearance on the airline's nonstop route from Seattle to Tokyo-Haneda.

Like the others discussed so far, this route is also currently operated by the A330-900neo, and will have daily service with the 306-seat aircraft.

On July 3rd, the Airbus A350-900 will be making its first appearance on the nonstop route between Atlanta and São Paulo, the busiest airport in Brazil.

With the increasing popularity of Brazil as a tourist destination, it is unsurprising that the airline is looking to add much-needed capacity to this high-volume route.

Currently, the airline operates this route with Airbus A330-300 aircraft, which feature 282 seats in a three-cabin configuration.

Next summer, the airline will operate one daily A350 service and one daily A330 service in each direction. In October 2025, the airline will swap out its older A330s for newer A330neos that have been shifted away from transpacific routes.