Delta Air Lines to Suspend Los Angeles-London Route

DALLAS — Delta Air Lines (DL) has announced it will discontinue its route between Los Angeles (LAX) and London Heathrow (LHR).

As of May 6, 2024, passengers seeking to travel on Delta between LAX and LHR must book a connecting flight through one of the airline's other hubs, including Boston (BOS), Detroit (DTW), Minneapolis (MSP), Seattle (SEA), Salt Lake City (SLC), or New York (JFK).

The route is currently operated daily by an Airbus A330-900neo, with DL186 Los Angeles to London departing at 8:00 PM PST and arriving at 2:50 p.m. (+1 day) GMT and DL187 London to Los Angeles departing at 4:50 PM GMT arriving at 8:30 p.m PST. Delta Air Lines A330-900neo aircraft will be reassigned to its hub at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL), initiating an extra flight on the ATL-LHR route. During 2023, the airline exclusively operated the Boeing 767-400ER on this route, offering four daily flights.

Delta first initiated service on this route in 2014 but discontinued it in 2015. After an almost eight-year hiatus, the airline reintroduced the route in the summer of 2023, only to cancel it again a year later. In addition to DL, its partner, Virgin Atlantic (VS), United Airlines (UA), American Airlines (AA), and British Airways (BA) operate the LAX-LHR route.

Partnership with Virgin Atlantic

Using the A350-1000, VS will continue the LAX-LHR service through its joint venture partnership with DL. Sky-team carrier Virgin Atlantic (VS) was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in London. In 2012, Virgin and Delta established a joint venture, with DL currently holding a 49% ownership stake in VS.

Collectively, DL and VS operate more than 40 daily non-stop flights connecting the UK and the US, with the number varying depending on the season. These two airlines jointly operate flights to various U.S. destinations, including the route between JFK and London Gatwick (LGW), inaugurated in April 2023. Seven daily direct flights are scheduled between LHR and JFK.