Delta Air Lines' partnership with airBaltic has reportedly been approved. The two airlines applied with the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) more than two years ago. Delta can now look forward to offering its passengers convenient connections to the Baltic region through this codeshare.

Approval received

Delta Air Lines and airBaltic have reportedly been given the nod for their codeshare partnership. This comes after two years of applying for permission from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The airlines approached DOT in 2021. Back then, Delta told Simple Flying,

“Delta Air Lines has signed a codeshare agreement with airBaltic which has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation for approval, as is required for all new airline agreements. When approved, the two airlines will review opportunities for elite reciprocal loyalty benefits for members traveling with either airline.”

The partnership will allow Delta to place its “DL” code on 24 flights, including Amsterdam (AMS) – Riga (RIX), Amsterdam (AMS) – Vilnius (VNO), Barcelona (BCN) – Riga (RIX), Brussels (BRU) – Tallinn (TLL), Copenhagen (CPH) – Riga (RIX), Edinburgh (EDI) – Riga (RIX), Munich (MUC) – Tallinn (TLL), Nice (NCE) – Riga (RIX), and Zurich (ZRH) – Riga (RIX), among others.

Delta hopes to attract passengers looking to travel between the US and the Baltic countries through this partnership, as it does not have a strong presence in the region, even with its European partners, Air France and KLM.

The initial codeshare could also be expanded upon in the future. The first routes will see Delta place its code on airBaltic flights, but in the future, the two airlines could expand that codeshare to put airBaltic's code on Delta's flights from Europe to the United States as well.

Delta is big on Europe

Even outside of this codeshare agreement, Delta Air Lines is expanding its presence in other parts of Europe. In June, the carrier reached its largest-ever transatlantic schedule to include 77 different routes across the Atlantic Ocean connecting 32 different destinations.

Most of these flights originate from Delta’s major hubs, such as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

Delta has increased the number of flights from one of its main hubs in Atlanta as it announced a new daily connection to Tel Aviv not too long ago. In May, the airline also announced new daily flights to Nice, France, in addition to its route from JFK.

Delta Air Lines also operates quite a significant international network out of LAX. This is mainly due to its daily route to Paris, France, where the airline operates year-round from LAX. Of course, its largest transatlantic schedule is out of New York, with more than 200 weekly flights to over 25 destinations across the Atlantic.