Passengers seeking to travel between Shannon and New York this summer will have more seats available to them than in previous years.
Capacity on the route will see an increase of over 320 additional seats weekly to and from New York’s JFK airport after Delta Air Lines (Delta) confirmed it will use a larger plane route this year.
When Delta resumes services from Shannon in May, the airline will use the larger Boeing 767-300(ER) aircraft which can carry 216 passengers with twin aisles making it easier for customers to move about with more comfort.
Delta confirmed last Autumn that they would return to Shannon on May 25th, having last operated the service in 2019. The carrier did not return to Shannon in 2020 after the Covid pandemic put a stop to international travel.
When it was confirmed that Delta would resume services this summer, it had been expected that the airline would continue to use the single-aisle 197-seater Boeing 757-200 series jet. This would have added over 2,750 seats each week to and from JFK for the summer schedule.
With the welcome news now that the Atlanta based carrier will deploy a 767 aircraft on the Shannon-JFK-Shannon route, there will be 3,024 weekly seats to and from JKF this summer.
A spokesperson for the airline confirmed: “JFK-SNN is currently set to be operated by the 767 (76K), up from the 757 (75G) that had been scheduled on the route. This amounts to an increase of 23 seats (per flight) in going from 193 to 216 seats.”
When Delta confirmed last September that they would return to Shannon, Mary Considine, CEO of The Shannon Airport Group said: “We are delighted with the restoration of the Delta New York/JFK service. We have worked closely with the airline to make it happen. The additional daily service to this important gateway of JFK will further boost connectivity to the US, helping our customers to reach global export markets, attract Foreign Direct Investment and bring international visitors to the West of Ireland – all of which help drive economic activity.
“Shannon was the first Irish airport that Delta chose to fly into back in 1986 and its fantastic to see them return to Shannon. This new service is excellent news for passengers from this region and inbound passengers who wish to explore the Wild Atlantic Way. We have enjoyed a considerable transatlantic market rebound generally since Covid. In addition to New York/JFK services, we also have services to Boston, Chicago and New York/Newark. There is a particular demand for services directly into the west of Ireland through Shannon and we are delighted to be able to facilitate this through airline partners such as Delta,” Ms Considine added.
