Following the start of its joint venture with Korean Air, Delta Airlines is planning to adding flights from Seoul to Minneapolis/St. Paul that will start next year.

The new flights will open a second link to Asia from the Atlanta,Georgia based airline's hub at Minneapolis/St. Paul, as the airline currently flies a service from the Minneapolis to Tokyo-Haneda using Boeing 777 aircraft.

While no exact schedule has been released by Delta, travellers can expect to see the new flights start next year with newly refurbished Boeing 777-200ER aircraft which will include 28 Delta One Suites and Delta Premium Economy seats. All travellers will have USB and 110V power ports and inflight WiFi.

The joint venture and the announcement of flights between Minnesota and South Korea is another sign of a new focus for Delta at Seoul-Incheon Airport. “Delta’s future is global and adding another nonstop flight to the joint venture’s Seoul-Incheon hub with Korean Air expands on our long-term vision,” said Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian. “This will be a great driver of international commerce for the Minneapolis/St. Paul community and the State of Minnesota, as well as benefiting our customers, our employees and our owners.”

Minneapolis will be the fourth destination Delta will have from its new, emerging hub at Seoul's Incheon Airport. The airline operates flights from Seoul to its other main US hubs in Atlanta, Detroit, and Seattle. Delta travellers at Seoul will be using the new Terminal 2, which is the main terminal for Korean Air and their SkyTeam partners.

Delta is building up Seoul hub as it has shifted from Tokyo's Narita Airport, where it has decreased flights from the hub it inherited from the Delta/Northwest merger in the 2000s. While its main competitors American and United gained Japanese code-share partners, Delta was the odd man out in a lucrative. Travellers on either way between Minneapolis and Seoul could connect to as much as 80 destinations in Asia, compared to 20 at Tokyo-Narita.

Seoul is also seen by Delta as a gateway to Asia and to the coveted market of China, which US airlines have limited slots. In a report from the Star Tribune of Minnesota, Bastian stated Seoul as a viable gateway to Asia and China. “Within China, the air traffic control systems are difficult, there’s a lot of congestion, the technologies aren’t there, the infrastructure isn’t in place — and in Seoul it’s fantastic,” Bastian said.

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