Delta Air Lines prepares to launch Los Angeles-Brisbane route

Delta will start initially with three services per week for the northern winter and is forecast to grow to daily services in the second and third years, with support from the Queensland Government’s $200 million Attracting Aviation Investment Fund.

The flights will deliver more than 271,000 inbound seats over three years and up to 114,000 visitors who will spend up to $208 million, supporting up to 840 jobs including 520 direct jobs and 320 indirect jobs.

The 306-seat, A350-900 aircraft carries up to 20 tonnes in freight capacity per service for Queensland exporters, who sold $409 million worth of goods to the United States (US) last financial year.

Delta Air Lines is the world’s largest carrier measured by revenue and market capitalisation and has never flown direct to Brisbane.

It operates over 4,000 daily flights to more than 265 destinations on six continents.

Part of the funding through AAIF will go towards a TEQ-led marketing campaign to promote the Delta Air Lines flights, with joint marketing opportunities which will kick-off mid-year to fill these planes headed for Queensland.

Delta’s service agreement with REX will also allow passengers to make seamless domestic connections.

The Attracting Aviation Investment Fund has now supported 29 services delivering two million international inbound seats and up to $1.82 billion in overnight visitor spending each year, supporting more than 21,000 jobs.

The Fund now supports three direct US connections with mainland US carriers to Brisbane including:

• United Airlines from San Francisco, operating since October 2022, supporting 227,000 inbound seats and $151 million in visitor expenditure over three years.
• American Airlines from Dallas Fort Worth, starting October 2024, supporting 140,000 inbound seats and $113 million in visitor expenditure over three years.
• Delta Air Lines from Los Angeles, starting December 2024, supporting 271,000 inbound seats and $208 million in visitor expenditure over three years.

Total seats between the USA and Brisbane in 2024 will be 178,000 seats, rising to 247,000 in 2025.

The US was Queensland’s third largest market for visitation in 2019, with 236,000 visitors for the year, spending an average 10.7 days in Queensland.

While the United States is one of Queensland’s biggest markets, the visitor numbers have so far only recovered to about three quarters of 2019 numbers.

The US also represents the 10^th largest international student cohort in Queensland so the new routes will attract more students and their families back for extended stays.