Delta drops Atlanta-Rome route as Italy goes on COVID-19 lockdown

Delta Air Lines is dropping its Atlanta (ATL) to Rome (FCO) route from March 11 through at least April 30 in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown in Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said “the whole of Italy will become a protected zone” in which people are being told to stay home and not travel. Italy is the hardest hit country outside of China by the novel coronavirus with a death toll of 463 and more than 9,000 people infected.

Seasonal service between Detroit Metro (DTW) and FCO will not start until at least May 1, Delta said. The DTW-FCO route was scheduled to launch on April 1.

Delta also extended its suspension of service from New York’s John F Kennedy (JFK) to Milan Malpensa (MXP) until at least May 20. Flights between JFK and Venice (VCE) have been dropped. The Atlanta-based carrier will continue to serve JFK-FCO 5X-weekly, its only flight to Italy that will continue to operate.

Photo credit: Delta Air Lines

Aaron Karp

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