Delta Expansion Adds Non-Stops Between MIA, LaGuardia
(MIAMI) CBSMiami - Travelers using Miami International Airport will be getting faster flights to LaGuardia using Delta airlines, part of a major expansion of the airline's service at the New York airport announced Friday.
Delta says the additions make it the biggest airline between the New York area and cities in the U.S., a move intended to help it lure more business travelers.
The list of added cities reads like a map of the hubs of competing airlines. Delta is adding Miami and Dallas, both major hubs for American Airlines, which recently entered bankruptcy in an attempt to reorganize.
It will also fly to Houston and Denver, which are both United hubs, and Charlotte, which is a hub for US Airways.
Delta already serves both Miami International and, to a lesser extent, Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, but did not offer non-stop service from Miami to LaGuardia. That will change in the first half of 2012, with 4 non-stops added daily.
The changes mean passengers headed for LaGuardia will no longer have to connect in Atlanta.
Delta also has service to Newark and JFK Airports in the New York area, including non-stops.
In all, Delta is planning to add 100 new flights daily from LaGuardia, part of a deal with US Airways to exchange flying rights at Washington Reagan and LaGuardia.
Delta offers considerable service from Miami International, but is dwarfed by American, which provides about 70 percent of the traffic at MIA.
At the same time as it announced the route expansion, Delta said it would cut back on the total flying the airline does by 3 percent in 2012.
Delta made no announcement about service at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
