ATLANTA- Delta Air Lines (DL) is discontinuing its transatlantic flight between London Heathrow (LHR) and Orlando (MCO) route after a brief operational period.
The carrier launched this service in October 2024, deploying Airbus A330neo aircraft four times weekly, which operated alongside its partner Virgin Atlantic on the same route, Ishrion Aviation reported.
Photo: Clément AlloingDelta Cutting Transatlantic Route
Evidence of this cancellation comes from Delta’s winter schedule, where LHR-MCO flights have been removed from reservation systems.
The LHR-MCO service was initially established using flight slots reallocated from Delta’s Seattle (SEA) to London route, which saw a reduction from daily to three-weekly flights last winter.
With the Orlando route’s apparent termination, Delta appears to be reversing this strategy, as the Seattle-London connection is scheduled to return to daily service in the upcoming winter season.
This suggests the airline is repositioning these valuable Heathrow slots back to their original Pacific Northwest deployment.
Photo: Clément AlloingVirgin Exiting Seattle Market
Virgin Atlantic (VS) appears to be withdrawing from the Seattle (SEA) market as Delta Air Lines prepares to launch a second daily flight between London Heathrow (LHR) and Seattle starting October 25. This move signals a significant shift in the partnership’s transatlantic strategy in the Pacific Northwest.
Delta’s addition of a second daily Seattle flight likely replaces Virgin Atlantic’s existing service on this route. However, it remains unclear whether this schedule adjustment is temporary for the Winter 2025/26 season or will continue into Summer 2026.
This route restructuring may explain Delta’s recent cancellation of its LHR-MCO (Orlando) service. The reallocation of these valuable Heathrow slots suggests a broader network optimization between the partner airlines.
Virgin Atlantic currently maintains its 10-weekly service to Orlando for the upcoming winter season but has not increased frequency to compensate for Delta’s withdrawal from the route.
The apparent reduction in combined capacity to Orlando could indicate a softening U.S.-bound travel demand.
Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic’s potential exit from Seattle continues the carrier’s pattern of market adjustments, following discussions about entering the Vancouver market instead of their previous choice of Toronto.
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The post Delta Air Lines Cutting This Transatlantic Route Under A Year appeared first on Aviation A2Z.
