Nonstop flights to Asia from Salt Lake City on Delta's 'drawing board' when new airport is finished

SALT LAKE CITY — Delta Air Lines sees its future hub in Salt Lake City International Airport's redesign as a key stepping stone in its mission to solidify its foothold in the international market.

And nonstop flights to Asia are likely part of that plan, according to an airline official.

Salt Lake City has been Delta's "fastest growing large hub" in recent years, and the city's airport rebuild is helping the airline set its sights on expanding global air connections, Joe Esposito, Delta's senior vice president of network planning, told the Salt Lake City Airport Advisory Board this week.

That could include nonstop flights to Asia when the city's massive, $3.6 billion redevelopment project is complete, he said. The first phase of the project is slated to open in 2020.

"We've been growing our U.S. position pretty rapidly for the past 10 years, and now we're starting to pivot more toward international service," Esposito said.

Salt Lake City's new airport will provide more gates for international flights, and Delta is eying nonstop flights from Salt Lake City to Seoul, South Korea, Esposito said.

"The Asian market here is actually fairly large," he said, adding that nonstop service to Seoul is "on our drawing board" and will likely be possible in "the next few years."

A nonstop flight to Seoul would join other nonstop flights Delta has begun to offer, including flights to London, Amsterdam, Paris and Mexico City.

"We're really expanding the market position here on the international side," Esposito said.

Delta has been investing "billions" in redevelopment projects not only Salt Lake City, but also in Seattle and Los Angeles, aiming to expand air connections in the western United States.

Since 2014, Delta's capacity has grown by more than 30 percent, Esposito said, adding 11 new destinations and 10 nonstop international destinations. On top of that, 14 destinations through Delta can only be reached through Salt Lake City, making Utah's capital "a great transit point for east and west" customers, as well as for international travelers, Esposito said.

Meanwhile, Delta is transitioning to larger aircraft, planning to retire almost all small, 50-seat planes. Delta is also planning on using the new 110-seat Airbus A220, which features wide seats and large windows, he said.

Delta delivers more than 300 flights to 100 destinations on a daily basis. It's Salt Lake City's largest airline, operating more than half of all departing flights from the city's airport.

Last year alone, Salt Lake City International Airport connected a record 25 million passengers. But as the airport continues to serve more and more passengers, it's operating with facilities designed 50 years ago, intended for half as many travelers.

The airport's redesign has been pegged as a "once-in-a-lifetime" project — and one that will result in one of the "best airports in the U.S.," Bill Wyatt, executive director of Salt Lake City's Department of Airports, has said.

Once the project is complete — including a new south concourse set to open in 2020 and a north concourse slated for 2024 — theSalt Lake airport will be "vastly more efficient" and will have the ability to expand gate capacity in the future "virtually as far as the eye can see," Wyatt has said.

The project is being completely funded through the airport's self-sustaining fund, so no taxpayer dollars are paying for the project, airport officials have said.

from Deseret News http://bit.ly/2Kt1e6N