After introducing its first flights to Brisbane during the northern winter 2024-25 season, Delta Air Lines plans to further expand its Australian network from December 2025.
The airline has scheduled the launch of a new route connecting Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Melbourne Airport (MEL). Flights will initially operate three times per week from Dec. 3 using 275-seat Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
The move increases the SkyTeam Alliance member’s route map in Australia to three destinations—Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney—each of which are served from LAX. MEL CEO Lorie Argus says the new route is a major win for the state of Victoria and its economy.
“The new services will help bring hundreds of extra visitors to our state each week, which will help support Victoria’s world-class tourism, dining and hospitality venues,” she explains.
“North America is an incredibly important inbound market for us, and we're proud to be partnering with Visit Victoria to help restore capacity on the Los Angeles route and incentivize North American tourists to make Melbourne their first stop.”
The addition of Delta’s service will also provide more capacity for cargo shipments, allowing Victoria-based exporters to send goods directly to North America without routing through Sydney.
OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that Delta will be the third airline to operate flights between LAX and MEL, joining Qantas and United Airlines, both of which currently offer daily service on the route. Melbourne also has U.S. connections to Dallas/Fort Worth via Qantas, Honolulu via Jetstar and San Francisco via United.
The planned Australian expansion comes as Delta confirmed it will resume flying to Tel Aviv from April 1 following the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement reached in January after 15 months of war. The carrier will restart daily service from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport using A330-900neo equipment, offering almost 2,000 weekly seats.
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