Delta doubles Asia cargo-only flights, adds Atlanta gateway

Delta is growing its Asia cargo operations to provide safe transportation of medical supplies and other essential items. Starting today, Delta will operate twice-daily flights between Seoul-Incheon and Shanghai, add four-times weekly service between Atlanta and Incheon and increase Detroit-Incheon cargo-only service to daily.

The new flights complement the existing Detroit-Incheon-Shanghai service, which previously operated four-times weekly, and the Los Angeles-Incheon-Shanghai flight, which operates three-times weekly.

The Atlanta flight, utilizing Delta’s largest hub airport, will be operated using Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, which can carry up to 42 tons of cargo in the hold. The Detroit service will use fuel-efficient Airbus A350-900 aircraft, a widebody jet that can carry up to 42 tons of cargo in its hold.

Once the cargo arrives in Atlanta, Detroit or Los Angeles, it is transferred to domestic passenger flights to be shipped to destinations around the U.S.

“With medical equipment in such high demand, we are doing all we can to help the supply chain and get surgical masks, gloves, gowns and other protective equipment to medical professionals across the country as quickly as we can,” said Shawn Cole, Vice President – Delta Cargo. “Increasing our scheduled cargo flights to gateways across the country means suppliers in China can get these items to frontline workers throughout the U.S. far more rapidly than if they were transported via cargo ship.”

The dedicated, scheduled services will operate on the following schedule:

China-based suppliers of medical protective equipment recently restarted production but with passenger flights suspended, they have been looking for alternative paths to the U.S. Operating cargo-only flights between Asia and the U.S. will help keep vital supply lines open.

The airline’s last cargo-only flights were operated by Northwest in 2009.

Recently, Delta began operating on-demand charter flights to support the growing need for air cargo. Last month, the airline flew several flights between Dublin and Atlanta and Los Angeles and Sydney. The new cargo charter operations provide safe and reliable transportation of essential goods to communities around the globe using aircraft that would otherwise be parked.

Delta Cargo annually flies 421,000 tons of cargo around the world, including pharmaceutical supplies, fresh flowers, produce, e-commerce, global mail and heavy machinery.