Delta Airlines suspends Manila indefinitely from route network - report

The Points Guy and TTR Weekly are reporting that Delta Airlines is scrapping its planned flights between Manila and Seoul indefinitely, effectively removing Manila from Delta's route network.  

The service, which would have utilised Delta's relatively new Airbus A330neo, was supposed to begin in March 2020.   However, the Coronavirus pandemic has forced the airline to postpone launching the new route several times before ultimately cancelling it altogether.  Prior to the announcement, the carrier said it was supposed to launch flights in November 2021.  

This means that almost 75 years of Delta's presence in Manila (through acquisitions of other airlines) is officially coming to an end, at least for the foreseeable future.  Delta inherited Manila from Northwest Airlines, which it merged with in 2008 but the Northwest brand continued operating in Manila until January 2010.  Under both the Northwest and Delta iterations, Manila was served using Tokyo Narita and occasionally other Japanese airports such as Osaka-Kansai and Nagoya. 

The withdrawal leaves United Airlines as the sole US-based carrier serving the Philippines.  Despite restrictions and the economic challenges brought about by the pandemic, United continues to operate some flights between Guam to Manila.  

Delta announced that affected passengers are eligible for a refund.  They have also indicated that Manila-Seoul will continue to be served by SkyTeam partner Korean Air, which will allow Sky Miles members to continue earning miles and crucially, allow passengers to/from Manila to access Delta's network as seamlessly as possible.

The suspension was part of wider announcement of route alterations.  In addition, Delta announced that it would suspend services from its main hub in Atlanta GA to Vancouver Canada, Detroit MI to Quad Cities/Moline IL, and New York (La Guardia) to Chattanooga TN.  However, Delta says that it will add flights to countries such as Greece, Iceland, and Croatia, which are reopening their borders to vaccinated American travellers.