Delta Air Lines Begins New 16-Hour Airbus A350 Flights

On December 3, Delta Air Lines took off from Los Angeles to Melbourne. It joins Qantas and United. The city pair has three carriers for the first time since 2020, when Virgin Australia pulled out.

Australia has gained many new or returning international routes in the past couple of weeks. Among others, Virgin inaugurated service from Melbourne to Doha on behalf of Qatar Airways, Qatar Airways returned to Canberra, Malaysia Airlines has returned to Brisbane, Jetstar began Perth-Manila and Brisbane-Cebu, China Southern now serves Darwin, etc.

Delta From Los Angeles To Melbourne

It is Delta’s first time in the Australian state of Victoria. It serves Melbourne three times a week on a year-round basis. It uses the fairly low-capacity, high-premium, 275-seat Airbus A350-900. This has 40 seats in Delta One, 40 in Premier Select, 36 in Comfort+, and 159 in bog-standard economy. Delta competes head-to-head with Qantas (daily A380/787-9) and United (daily 787-9).

Delta now has two configurations of its flagship A350-900. The 275-seater joins the carrier’s original, 306-seater. While its ex-LATAM frames had 339 seats with a substandard product, this no longer operates. According to ch-aviation, the aircraft have been reconfigured, or are in Asia for retrofitting, with 275 seats.

Depending on the week, Melbourne’s maximum block time varies from 15 hours and 50 minutes to 16 hours and five minutes. It is the SkyTeam member’s new fifth-longest route. Despite the considerable block time, the city pair is far too short to be among Australia’s (and New Zealand’s) longest routes list.

Delta Now Has 3 Australian Routes

The carrier now has up to 17 weekly departures from the US to Australia. It now has three routes, all from Los Angeles and all on the A350-900. It serves Brisbane (three weekly), Melbourne (three weekly), and Sydney (daily to 11 weekly).

Delta began flying to Brisbane, the capital of the tourist state of Queensland, last December. As such, it now has its most Australia-bound services on record. Focusing on mid-January, its departures have risen by 21% compared year-over-year, and they’re up by 143% compared to before the pandemic in 2019.

Unlike in January 2025, Jetstar has exited the Australia-US market. The remaining carriers—American, Delta, Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian, Qantas, and United—all have more flights. Delta now offers 14% of the country pair’s nonstop departures. In contrast, United has 40%, Qantas has 31%, American has 11%, and Alaska/Hawaiian has 4%.

The US Has Gained 4 Australian Routes In 2025

It is not just Delta’s link between Los Angeles and Melbourne that is new this year. In May, Qantas began flights between Melbourne and Honolulu, doubling the Australian flag carrier’s network to Hawaii. It replaced its low-cost unit, Jetstar, which had served the market for over a decade. Qantas ends Melbourne flights at the end of January.

Two more routes begin this month. On the day of writing, December 5, American takes off from Los Angeles to Brisbane, doubling its routes to Queensland. It’ll operate three times a week on the 787-9. Because of its entry, close partner Qantas has reduced its flights on the city pair from daily to four times a week. The pair join Delta, with three airlines serving the market for the first time.

On December 11, United commences service from San Francisco to Adelaide. It’ll run three times weekly on the 787-9. Influenced by significant financial incentives, it’ll be the first time that the South Australian capital has had nonstop service to North America. It means United will now serve four Australian cities (Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney).