Delta Cutting Some International Flights Later This Year

If you were planning to fly Delta Air Lines for an overseas trip this holiday season, you might want to start making other plans. The airline aims to cut its international flights by about 3% during the last three months of 2015.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Delta will trim the routes to Japan, Brazil, Africa, India and the Middle East, as well as seasonal trips to Moscow in an effort to make up revenue.

The company said it chose to cut these routes as they are markets that have been most affected by the strong dollar and where demand has been negatively impacted by the decline in oil prices.

Despite the effect low oil prices and the strong dollars have had on Delta’s international service, the company says it expects to save more than $2 billion on fuel this year.

In preparation for less frequent international flights, Delta has been cutting back on routes from its hub at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, while instead serving more Asian destinations from Seattle and other U.S. airports.

In some cases, the company plans to make the cutbacks by simply using smaller jets. For example, to reduce capacity on Japan routes, Delta will mostly stop using the current Boeing 747 jumbo jets, Bloomberg reports.

Delta Air’s Pullback Abroad Seen Spurring Rivals to Follow [Bloomberg]
Delta Says Profits Triple, Plans Capacity Cuts to Overseas Flights [Wall Street Journal]

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