US carrier Delta will no longer be flying between London Gatwick and New York JFK after the end of August.
A recent post by a reader on the businesstraveller.com forum had suggested this would be the case, and a check with Delta’s website reveals that daily flights DL5 and DL6 (which operate between Gatwick and JFK) cease after August 31. The carrier has released a statement today confirming the move:
"As a result of the increase in fuel prices over the last year, Delta is aggressively working to analyze its worldwide route structure to ensure that routes are operating as fuel efficiently as possible. Based on this analysis, Delta has made the decision to cancel its London Gatwick to New York JFK service. The last Delta flight DL6 will depart London Gatwick to New York JFK on August 31, 2008. Delta will continue to operate flights from London Gatwick to Atlanta and Cincinnati. Delta continues to serve the London - New York market with its London Heathrow to New York JFK flights."
Passengers seeking to make bookings with Delta from Gatwick to JFK on and from September 1 are now offered time-consuming and unsuitable connections via Atlanta or Cincinnati.
It would appear that Delta, just like American with its decision to abandon Stansted-JFK flights from this coming July (see online news May 30), is trimming surplus capacity in a bid to cut costs.
Delta’s existing twice daily flights to JFK from London Heathrow continue unchanged. But Gatwick’s link with JFK will be reinstated from the end of October when British Airways relaunches its service from the Sussex airport.
For more information go to delta.com.
Report by Alex McWhirter
