Delta Airlines has been approved by the government of Shanghai to resume flights starting June 18, an airline representative disclosed on Monday, setting the stage for the company to resume services to China after months of COVID-19 suspension.
Delta is still awaiting the go-signal from the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration on how many flights it will resume, and when, the airline announced.
China and the US will each allow four weekly flights between the two nations, the US Department of Transportation announced on Monday, easing a travel restriction standoff amid the global health crisis.
The Trump administration has further eased plans to restrict commercial flights by Chinese carriers to the US after China stated it would allow more passenger flights by US airlines.
Following approval by the Chinese government, Delta Airlines said it will resume passenger flights from Seattle to Shanghai via Seoul next week, and once weekly flights from Seattle and Detroit starting in July.
In a statement, the Department of Transportation said it would continue to push for the complete restoration of passenger air travel between China and the US, partly to allow the repatriation of Chinese students who were unable to fly home due to flight shortages.
Delta Airlines on Monday said it is considering adding almost 1,000 system-wide flights next month, enhancing service to both common summer tourist destinations and major business markets in response to rising demand for air travel.
Delta and other airlines cut their schedules drastically in March and April as the COVID-19 pandemic pummeled air travel demand. But airlines have indicated in recent weeks that demand appears to have bottomed out in April and the industry is starting to rebuild its schedule heading into peak summer travel.
Even with the new changes, Delta pointed out that its July schedule will be around 70 percent lower compared to a year earlier, with international flights down by almost 75 percent.
Delta is now focused on expanding services from its Detroit, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City hubs, with a focus on increasing capacity to growing tourist markets such as Florida and West Coast destination. The carrier is also providing transcontinental flights intended for business travelers.
Meanwhile, Delta anticipates revenues for the second quarter of 2020 to decline by 90 percent from the year-ago, owing to travel demand woes caused by coronavirus. For the same, the Zacks Consensus Estimate indicates a drop of 88.6 percent.
Following this bleaker than expected second-quarter forecast, the company's shares slipped more than 7 percent at the close of operations on June 10. Delta has reduced its operating expenses for the June quarter by more than 50 percent.
