Delta suspends Seattle-Osaka service, reduces Japan schedule

Delta Air Lines said it would suspend summer seasonal service between Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) and Japan’s Osaka-Kansai (KIX) for 2020 in response to reduced demand caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The SkyTeam member also said its weekly flying schedule from the US to Japan would be reduced through April 30. “The health and safety of customers and employees is Delta’s top priority,” the Atlanta-based carrier said.

Delta said the planned consolidation of all its Tokyo flights at Haneda Airport (HND), transferring most of its routes from Narita Airport (NRT), will happen on March 28 as planned.

The airline’s frequency reductions to Japan—starting on March 7 until April 30—include trimming its NRT services. Daily flights to the airport from Portland International (PDX), Oregon will drop to 3X-weekly, from Atlanta (ATL) to 5X-weekly and from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International (MSP) to 3X-weekly. All three services are set to switch to HND in April.

Daily flights to Nagoya (NGO) from Detroit Metro (DTW) and Honolulu (HNL) are also being cut to 3X-weekly. In addition, Delta’s daily HNL-KIX service will only fly 3X-weekly.

Delta noted that the SEA-KIX seasonal service will return in summer 2021. Regarding its overall schedule, Delta said it “will continue to monitor the situation closely and may make additional adjustments as the situation continues to evolve.”

Aaron Karp

Aaron Karp is a Contributing Editor to the Aviation Week Network.