Delta is close to a nonstop Singapore route, its first since 2019
The airline has not yet named Los Angeles or Seattle as the departure point, and Air Canada's Vancouver service ends in January 2027.
Delta Air Lines is moving toward a new nonstop route to Singapore Changi, its first service to the city since 2019. The SkyTeam carrier would fly it with an Airbus A350-900, the largest aircraft in its current fleet until the A350-1000 arrives next year.
The airline has not said which West Coast hub will launch the flight. Both Los Angeles International and Seattle-Tacoma International are in the frame, and both are key to Delta's Asia-Pacific growth. Los Angeles has driven recent expansion, with nonstops to Hong Kong and Manila.
Delta's last Singapore service ran via Tokyo Narita and ended in 2019. This time the flying would be nonstop. Some headlines have called it an 18-hour flight, but readers pointed out that Los Angeles to Singapore tops out at about 16.5 hours and is often shorter.
Return flights from Singapore to Los Angeles usually take 15 hours or less, according to the same readers. No timetable, start date or fare has been announced, so none of these durations is confirmed for a Delta schedule.
The competition Delta would meet
Delta would face stiff competition from full-service rivals. Singapore Airlines flies the route up to 11 times a week and is by far the largest operator to the United States from Singapore, serving Los Angeles, New York JFK, Newark, San Francisco and Seattle/Tacoma.
Delta would likely fly to Singapore at most three times a week, with well under a third of Singapore Airlines' capacity. One commenter noted that United has no nonstop from either city but competes through its twice-daily San Francisco service.
Seattle's Singapore Airlines link has a history. Nonstop flights began in September 2019, were withdrawn in March 2020 during the pandemic, returned via Vancouver in December 2021, and became nonstop again in June 2022.
Vancouver is losing its Singapore link. Air Canada has flown the route since April 2024 but is ending it, citing commercial challenges, with the final flight in January 2027. Singapore has served Vancouver intermittently over decades, and the route was axed before for low demand.
What Delta's hubs already carry
Cirium data indicates Los Angeles and Seattle account for close to half of Delta's Asia-Pacific flights. Together they record 3,054 flights in 2026, against 6,643 overall. Los Angeles leads with 1,595 services this year, an average of more than 30 a week.
Seattle follows with 1,459 flights, or 28 weekly. Behind them are Detroit with 1,095, Atlanta with 1,092, Minneapolis-Saint Paul with 728, Honolulu with 365 and Salt Lake City with 309, which averages six a week.
From Los Angeles, Delta serves eight seasonal and year-round Asia-Pacific destinations: Sydney, Tokyo Narita, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Melbourne, Auckland, Manila and Brisbane. From Seattle it flies to Tokyo Haneda and Narita, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei.
Seattle's wider Asian board is fuller. Hainan Airlines flies to Beijing, Chongqing and Haikou, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Philippine Airlines to Manila. Seoul Incheon is served by Alaska Airlines, Asiana, Delta and Korean Air.
Taipei Taoyuan is served from Seattle by China Airlines, Delta, EVA Air and Starlux Airlines. Tokyo Haneda is served by All Nippon Airways and Delta, Narita by Alaska, Hawaiian and Japan Airlines, plus Emirates to Dubai and Qatar Airways to Doha.
Delta is rebuilding its Asian network around more nonstop US routes. The decision on Los Angeles or Seattle is the open question, and no official announcement has yet confirmed the city, the date or the frequency.
Support the content you love — it’s free 🎉
Add Luxa Terra as a preferred source on Google. Our stories will be more likely to appear in Google’s Top Stories. It’s free and supports our team. Thank you!
Add as preferred sourceYou can remove us any time in Google’s source preferences.
Thank you — see you in Top Stories 🎉
Luxa Terra is now one of your preferred sources on Google, so our stories are more likely to appear when you search.
Sources
This briefing is published daily using an AI-powered system crafted by Luxa Terra’s team and finely tuned to meet our editorial standards. While we continuously test and review the output, mistakes can sometimes happen. Tell us if you spot one.
Images: simpleflying.com; Simple Flying
