US major Delta Air Lines will begin a Saturday seasonal service between Los Angeles and Managua from June 5, 2015. The additional service will complement the current daily non-stop service it offers from the Nicaraguan capital city to Atlanta, and will be operated by a 160-seat Boeing 737-800.

“Delta is the only airline offering the convenience of weekly nonstop service between Managua and Los Angeles,” said Jose Antonio Torres, general manager for Central America, Delta Air Lines. “The new Los Angeles-Managua weekly flight is timed for a late departure to provide business travellers a full work day prior to travelling. In addition, customers from Nicaragua will now have increased access to Delta’s global network and will be able to enjoy the benefits of Delta’s investments in the Central American region.”

Our analysis shows that in the last 12 months (December 2013 – November 2014) an estimated 590,000 bi-directional O&D passengers flew between Nicaragua and the United States with Los Angeles (approximately 53,000 annual passengers) the largest inbound and outbound market currently not connected directly to the United States.

This route will actually represented the return of Delta to the city pair as the carrier has previously served the market with flights between December 2006 and April 2007 and between December 2007 and January 2008. Central American carrier TACA International also offered flights on this route, most recently flying during 2008.

With flights to 13 cities including San José, Costa Rica; Liberia, Costa Rica; San Salvador; Guatemala City; Belize City; Cancún; Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo; Manzanillo; Guadalajara; Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Monterrey; and now Managua, Delta serves more destinations in Latin America from Los Angeles than any carrier.

“Delta has been growing its footprint between Los Angeles and Central America,” said Ranjan Goswami, vice president for Los Angeles, Delta Air Lines. “With direct access to all of the key US entertainment and tech markets, as well as additional Latin service through our gateway at Los Angeles we strive to provide business and leisure customers the best service options to meet their travel needs.”

Alongside supporting point-to-point demand, once in Los Angeles customers flying from Nicaragua will have a variety of options for onward travel connecting with destinations in other Western states and Northern California as Jackson Hole, Las Vegas, Oakland, Portland, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Salt Lake City and Sacramento.

From Los Angeles, Delta currently operates 154 peak-day departures to 48 destinations and has continued expanding both international and domestic service over the past few months, including London Heathrow in October; Dallas and Austin, Texas in November; and Vancouver, Canada in December.

In the chart below we highlight the growth of Delta Air Lines at Los Angeles International Airport. In fact, according to OAG Schedules Analyser, current published schedules through to the end of 2015 show that the carrier will actually overtake American Airlines and United Airlines as the largest operator from the US West Coast gateway.

Between 2005 and 2014 Delta has more than doubled its capacity from the airport with an average annual growth of 14.3 per cent across the period. In 2014, a significant expansion meant capacity rose 17.8 per cent and is forecasted to increase a further 18.1 per cent in 2015, based on advanced flight schedules.