US-based Delta Air Lines has expressed confidence that the quality of its service will help it win a share of Hong Kong’s fiercely competitive aviation market, saying demand for its recently relaunched route to Los Angeles has exceeded expectations, driven by corporate bookings.
Jeff Moomaw, the airline’s vice-president for Asia-Pacific, said on Tuesday that demand for premium travel was helping drive its growth in the region.
“Hong Kong is [a] highly competitive market with premium carriers, including Cathay [Pacific], serving that market,” he told a press briefing. “But we’re very confident in our product competing against anyone in the world.”
Moomaw said the airline used only Airbus A350-900 aircraft on its Asia-Pacific routes, most configured with its highest proportion of premium seats to cater to strong demand.
He also pointed to Delta’s five premium Delta One lounges and plans to expand the network to Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis.
“So what we offer to our customers, we think, can compete with any airline on the planet, regardless of who’s serving that market,” Moomaw added. “But yes, Hong Kong is highly competitive, but we are here to win.”
His comments came after Delta resumed direct flights between Hong Kong and Los Angeles in June following a hiatus of nearly eight years, launching a daily service amid surging fuel prices.
“This flight has performed incredibly well for us,” he said of the route. “Corporate demand has been incredibly strong, and the appetite for this flight has exceeded our expectations.”
He added that it was also the airline’s “number one cargo flight” and had “set permanent records” for cargo performance for several weeks.
Moomaw described the airline’s regional expansion as the “decade of the Pacific”, citing annual growth of 15 per cent in the region since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also said the carrier would operate one-off direct return services from Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai and Seoul to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show in 2027.
The Hong Kong service will depart for Las Vegas on January 4, with the return flight on January 10.
Moomaw said premium seating and other products now accounted for 60 per cent of the airline’s revenue, reversing the balance of a decade ago.
The shift towards premium products had helped offset a US$6 billion, or 60 per cent, increase in fuel costs this year, he added.
He said Delta generated more revenue per unit of capacity than the industry benchmark, giving it a “unit revenue premium”.
“Typically, for every dollar that is spent [by the customer] on an airline ticket, Delta receives US$1.14, which means that there is a value that we are providing to customers through our brand, our product, our experience that customers are willing to pay for, which gives us that advantage,” he said.
Moomaw said the carrier offered free Wi-fi worldwide, online newspapers and video streaming through Paramount Plus.
Return fares from Hong Kong to Los Angeles departing next Tuesday started at HK$5,614 (US$716) on Delta and HK$6,754 on Cathay Pacific Airways, according to searches of their respective websites.
Moomaw said Delta’s first Airbus A350-1000 would arrive in the first quarter of 2027 and could enter service in the third or fourth quarter of that year. Premium seating would account for 50 per cent of its seats, the airline’s highest proportion.
“Every airline in the world has experienced some sort of delay in deliveries of new aircraft,” he said. “Delta is not immune to that, but we are confident in the delivery schedule that we have of all of the fleet coming online.”
Beyond aircraft and premium seating, Moomaw said Delta was investing heavily in digital customer service technology.
He described the company’s use of artificial intelligence as “augmented intelligence”, saying it was intended to improve customer service rather than reduce staffing.
He added that the technology could help optimise baggage transfer routes and cut the time needed to handle complex calls from customers travelling with pets from 35 minutes to five. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
