New Launch Makes 8 Routes: Where Delta Air Lines Flies To Africa

Earlier this year, in February, Delta Air Lines announced plans to launch flights to Marrakesh, Morocco. On October 25, the airline’s inaugural flight touched down in the city and marked its first-ever service to Marrakesh and its first nonstop route to North Africa in over 14 years. Delta last served North Africa back in 2008 when it launched flights to Cairo, Egypt. However, the route was suspended in 2011 due to civil unrest in the country.

The airline’s ties to Africa go back much further. Nearly two decades ago, Delta had a codeshare agreement with South African Airways, which operated one of its Boeing 747-400s between Johannesburg and Delta’s Atlanta hub. But when South African Airways joined Star Alliance in 2006, the partnership ended, and Delta started building its own network on the continent.

After 14 Years, Delta Resumes North African Flights With Marrakesh Launch

Indeed, the airline has been steadily expanding its presence in Africa. With the addition of Marrakesh, the carrier now operates eight routes to the continent from its main hubs in Atlanta and New York JFK, serving six African cities in total. The new route operates three times a week using the Boeing 767-400ER, which features Delta One, Delta Premium Select, Delta Comfort+, and Main Cabin.

Delta’s first African service began in 2006, with flights to Atlanta and Johannesburg, which included a refueling stop in Dakar. Soon after, it launched flights from New York JFK to Accra, Ghana, which continues to operate daily and remains one of the airline’s strongest African markets. It particularly sees a strong demand for Accra during the holiday season. Thus, this year, the carrier is adding a seasonal service from Atlanta to Accra starting December 1 to meet peak winter demand.

For now, it’s just a seasonal route, but given the demand to the city, it does have the potential to become a year-round service. Beyond these markets, Delta also flies to Lagos, Nigeria, and Dakar, Senegal. According to data from aviation analytics provider Cirium, by the end of this year, the airline will have operated more than 1,600 flights to Africa.

Delta To Upgauge Atlanta–Lagos Route With Airbus A350-900

Furthermore, Delta recently confirmed that it will deploy its Airbus A350-900 on the Atlanta–Lagos route, starting this month. Through late November, the service will be operated with a mix of A350-900 and A330-900neo aircraft. Starting in early December, however, all flights on the route are scheduled to be operated exclusively with its 306-seat A350-900 to accommodate increased demand. The aircraft features Delta’s latest premium cabin layout.

This includes 32 Delta One Suites arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration, and offers fully flat beds measuring 76 inches in length. The Delta Premium Select cabin has 48 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration, while the economy section includes 36 extra-legroom Delta Comfort+ seats and 190 standard economy seats. Delta first launched flights to Nigeria in 2007 and has maintained service to Lagos ever since. It currently operates a year-round service from Atlanta and a more intermittent service from New York JFK.

The carrier initially started flying from JFK to Lagos in 2018, but paused the route in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Star Alliance member later reinstated it in July 2021 and operated until October 2022. Then, it briefly resumed in December 2024, operating until March this year. According to Cirium, Delta has scheduled daily flights between New York JFK and Lagos again for December, which will run until January 15, 2026.

Delta Is Seeking More Frequencies For Cape Town Amid Rising Demand

Besides this, the Atlanta-based carrier is also looking to make some adjustments to its South African routes. It currently flies daily to Johannesburg and three times a week to Cape Town. The former has been part of Delta’s network since 2006, while the latter was added much later after years of planning and regulatory delays. Delta had initially proposed serving Cape Town in 2020 through a triangular routing: Atlanta to Johannesburg to Cape Town and back to Atlanta.

The idea was to address performance limitations on the Johannesburg–Atlanta leg by adding a departure from the lower-altitude Cape Town airport. However, the South African Department of Transport rejected the plan, citing that the 1996 US–South Africa Air Transport Agreement did not allow domestic coterminalization for airlines from either country. Thus, it shifted its focus to a nonstop Atlanta–Cape Town service.

In February 2022, the airline applied to the US Department Of Transportation for route authority. Around the same time, United Airlines also filed a request for flights between Washington Dulles and Cape Town. At that point, only four of the 21 weekly frequencies permitted to US carriers under the bilateral agreement were still available. So, in July 2022, both governments agreed to add two more frequencies, which allowed both carriers to proceed with their respective routes.

Since then, Delta has operated its Cape Town route three times a week year-round using the Airbus A350-900. The airline has now asked to move two weekly frequencies from its Atlanta–Johannesburg route to Cape Town during the northern winter season (given the increased demand), which would temporarily increase the service to five flights a week.