Delta Makes Moves to Catch Up With United in the Pacific

Key Points

• Delta is adding winter international routes to Las Vegas—including new Taipei and Hong Kong service plus added capacity to Seoul, Shanghai, and key European cities—to capture global demand around CES, which draws 148,000+ attendees in January.
• Delta will launch nonstop Newark-Los Angeles service in April 2027 on an A321neo, taking on United directly on one of the most competitive U.S. transcontinental routes as it seeks to become the dominant carrier at LAX.
• Delta is prioritizing Pacific growth to close a large revenue gap with United ($2.8 billion vs. $6.9 billion in 2025), backed by new Asia routes from LAX and a second Delta One lounge there by 2028.

Summary

Delta Air Lines is expanding international service to Las Vegas for the winter season, adding new routes to Taipei and Hong Kong and boosting capacity to Seoul, Shanghai, Amsterdam, Paris, and London ahead of CES, the major tech conference in January that draws over 148,000 attendees. The expansion addresses Las Vegas's historically weak long-haul network—only 6% of the city's nearly 55 million passengers traveled internationally in 2025, mostly to Canada and Mexico—at a time when total visitor volumes fell 8%. Separately, Delta announced a new nonstop Newark-Los Angeles route launching April 2027 on an A321neo, directly challenging United on one of the busiest, most competitive transcontinental routes. The moves reflect Delta's broader strategy to dominate LAX and grow its Pacific presence, where it lags United significantly in revenue ($2.8 billion versus $6.9 billion in 2025), supported by new Asia routes and a second Delta One lounge planned at LAX by 2028.