MANILA, 13 May 2021: Delta Air Lines is pulling back flights in Asia starting with the axing of a fifth-freedom service between South Korea and the Philippines and will use its partnership with Korean Air to serve the region.
Delta’s fifth-freedom service between Seoul and Manila is not likely to return any time soon. (Fifth freedom: An airline flies between two foreign countries on the way to or from its home country.)
The Atlanta-based airline said in a statement that ongoing travel restrictions and uncertain market situations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to suspend the Seoul-Manila service indefinitely. Delta will continue to serve Manila through its joint venture partner Korean Air.
Back in mid-2019, the airline shifted its Asian gateway city for trans-Pacific flights from Tokyo-Narita to Seoul ICN. At the same time, it said it would serve Manila but with a fifth freedom service out of Seoul that connected with the airline’s trans-Pacific flights from Seoul to the US. The Covid-19 pandemic scuttled those plans.
(Source: The Points Guy News)
