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Home » Delta Air Lines » Delta Ditches Taiwan, Further Dismantles Narita Hub
Delta Air LinesNews

Delta Ditches Taiwan, Further Dismantles Narita Hub

Matthew Klint Posted onJanuary 31, 2017February 1, 2017 3 Comments

Delta will end service to Taipei in May, further eroding its Tokyo Narita hub.

Delta currently operates a daily Fifth Freedom flight between Tokyo Narita and Taipei, Taiwan. That flight will end on May 24, 2017.

Blaming the international expansion of Tokyo Haneda Airport for its weakening Narita hub, Delta claims this “restructuring” was a necessity. Delta already announced the elimination of service to New York JFK, Osaka, and Bangkok from Narita last summer.

Delta says that’s all for now, but its hub at Narita is certainly shrinking. Nevertheless, it remains a much stronger hub than United, which also still labels Narita a hub.

Delta Taipei Service

Why This Move Makes Great Sense for Delta

Economics are changing. Technology is changing. Alliances are changing. New aircraft like the 787 and A35o have made to non-stop service to markets like Taipei much more economically feasible. The traditional hub-and-spoke system will live on, but people do not want to make an extra connection in Asia traveling to Taiwan and it is no longer necessary. Delta’s Skyteam partner China Airlines serves Taipei nonstop from Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Even from Tokyo, China Airlines offers three daily non-stop flights. The Delta flight was redundant.

Delta is rethinking its Narita hub for good reason. With Haneda’s slot liberalizations, carriers have access to more gates at preferred times than ever before. Narita — it seems to me — will turn into a London Gatwick. Budget carriers and flights to leisure destinations will continue to fill its gates, but it will no longer be a global hub. That baton will pass to Haneda.

Hopefully Delta and China Airlines will work more closely together. China Airlines has a wonderful business product and is giving EVA a real run for its money. I also hope Delta will not permanently abandon Taipei. Perhaps a direct flight from its Seattle hub could be viable with robust China Airlines codeshare connections beyond.

But this move is the right one. Tokyo Narita has a rich Northwest Orient legacy at Delta, but times are changing. United/ANA and AA/JAL form a formidable axis. With no Japanese parter, Delta would be better served either flying more point-to-point destinations in Asia or focusing on Skyteam fortress hubs in Seoul or Taipei.

Delta Taipei
A Delta 747-400 departs from Tokyo Narita (NRT) / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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3 Comments

  1. Al Reply
    January 31, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    So does this mean a Delta Skyclub is in order for HND?

  2. Ben Reply
    January 31, 2017 at 9:45 pm

    No way DL would operate DTW or MSP to TPE. There’s like zero Taiwanese in those two cities. Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans live in LA (biggest), NYC, Houston and maybe SF. I’m Taiwanese. I know.

  3. Ben Reply
    February 1, 2017 at 9:45 am

    You also forgot to copy and paste the MU and KE collaboration / JV from Delta’s news hub site. Most bloggers copy and paste the whole thing. ICN and PVG are DL’s new Asian hubs.

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