Delta to Serve Curaçao this Winter

DALLAS — Delta Air Lines (DL) has announced its intent to resume nonstop service to the Dutch island of Curaçao (CUR) in the Caribbean from its hub in Atlanta airport (ATL), in Georgia.

The route will be operated once per week, on Saturdays, starting December 16, 2023. According to the airline's schedule sourced from airlinedata.com, DL will keep operating the route after the end of the winter season, at least until June 1, 2024.

According to airlinedata.com, flight DL1786 will take off from ATL at 9:50 in the morning, landing four hours later in CUR, at 2:50 PM local time. The flight back, DL1783, will leave the Caribbean island at 4:15 PM, arriving back in Georgia around 7:40 in the evening.

This is not the first time DL flies this route. Indeed, the airline has flown between ATL and CUR seasonally from 2008 to 2010. DL then stopped its service, and it did not fly to the Dutch island since then.

According to aerotransport.org, DL has 77 Boeing 737-800 in its fleet. Photo: Daniel Gorun/Airways

Curaçao Airport

Curaçao Airport is also named Hato international airport, after the nearest city. It is the only airport serving this small island, but it has one of the longest runways in the Caribbean, which can accommodate Boeing 747s.

The airport is indeed connected to Europe, with direct flights to Amsterdam (AMS) on KLM's (KL) Boeing 777s and Tui fly's (OR) Boeing 787s. The island also has numerous direct flights to other islands with regional services and is connected to South America.

From the US, CUR can be reached from Miami (MIA) and Charlotte (CLT) on American Airlines (AA) Boeing 737-800s. Moreover, Jetblue (B6) also operates a direct service from New York (JFK) and has increased its frequencies on the route this summer. The low-cost carrier operates Airbus A320 aircraft on the route.

This week, there are about 20 direct flights linking CUR to the US, which represents about 3,400 seats offered. The US market represents about 19% of the total capacity at CUR. With the new DL route this winter, this share could reach up to 25%.

With this new route, DL will serve 54 Caribbean destinations this winter, according to Airlinedata. From December 2023 to March 2024, the airline will fly over 60,000 flights from the US to the region, offering over 8 million seats.

Featured image: Delta will serve the route using Boeing 737-800s. Photo: Francesco Cecchetti/Airways