Delta Air Lines adds first international route from Austin

According to data from aviation analytics company Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning tool, American Airlines will be the only other carrier serving this route starting in November. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines has removed its 16 weekly flights scheduled for November 2024 and any subsequent flights in December through February 2026.

Cirium’s Diio Mi also indicated that between January 2024 and November 2024, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines averaged an 80% load factor. The lowest load factors were recorded in early months of the year: January saw American Airlines’ cabins at an average of 60.3% full while February had them at63.2% full; Southwest Airlines recorded a low load factor of74.31% in March.

Southwest Airlines’ decision to exit the Austin-Cancun route might be linked to its move to close down a crew base in Austin. Other airlines such as JetBlue (ended service in March2022), Spirit Airlines(ended service in September2022), and Sun Country Airlines(ended service in July2023) have also attempted this route but exited after short periods.

Delta Air Lines has previously operated irregular international flights from Austin including trips to Cancun in March2011 and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS)in March2018 for special departures related to the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival.

Delta highlights that it has positioned Austin as a key gateway facilitating connections across its expansive network which includes non-stop flights to major hubs. In December,it has scheduled406 weekly flights fromAustin including70 weekly departures toHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport(ATL). Extensive partnerships withAeromexicoandKLM allow customers connecting throughAustin access global hubs likeMexico City International Airport(MEX)andAmsterdam.British Airwayshas scheduled daily flightsLondon Heathrow Airport(LHR)whileLufthansaplanned three weekly itinerariesFrankfurt Airport(FRA).