Delta Air Lines To Cancel Flights To Nagoya

Delta Air Lines is canceling its one remaining route to Nagoya, after flying to the Japanese city for over 32 years. The US carrier currently operates three flights per week from its hub at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) to Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair Metropolitan International Airport (NGO).

According to its latest schedule update, the airline’s final eastbound flight will depart on February 27th, with the final return sector departing Nagoya on February 28th. Delta Air Lines began flying to Nagoya in 1991, with flights from Portland (PDX). The route from Detroit was inherited from the airline’s merger with Northwest Airlines back in 2009.

Delta Air Lines has not disclosed the reason for ending the route, but with large automobile industries on both ends, its success depended heavily on premium business traffic. Such traffic has reduced substantially as a result of changing working habits following the pandemic, which is likely to have impacted on the route’s financial performance.

Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock

Following its departure from Nagoya, Delta Air Lines will consolidate its Japanese operation at Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND), from where it has services to seven US cities. The airline also recently opened a new Sky Club lounge at the airport.

The existing flight schedule

Delta Air Lines currently flies between Detroit and Nagoya three times per week, with the following schedule:

• Flight DL95 – departs DTW at 10:05 and arrives at NGO at 14:10 (+1 day)
• Flight DL94 – departs NGO at 16:10 and arrives in DTW at 14:30

Eastbound services depart Detroit on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, with the return leg leaving Nagoya on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

Flights are operated with one of the airline’s 11 Airbus A330-200 aircraft, each seating a total of 223 passengers in a four-class configuration – 34 in business class (Delta One), 21 in premium economy (Premium Select), 24 in economy plus (Delta Comfort+), and 144 in economy class (Main Cabin).

Photo: Nicolas Economou | Shutterstock

Delta Air Lines’ former Nagoya hub

Following the merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines inherited a mini-hub at Nagoya, flying to Detroit, Guam (GUM), Manila (MNL), Saipan (SPN), and Honolulu (HNL). At its peak in 2011, the airline was operating nine daily flights to and from the Japanese city.

However, in subsequent years, services were reduced, leaving only flights to Detroit and Honolulu when the pandemic struck in 2020. The carrier resumed flights to Detroit in April 2021, but its Honolulu service never returned.

Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock

Nagoya’s final Transpacific service

Delta Air Lines’ departure leaves Nagoya with no Transpacific flights, although the city will still be connected to the US, courtesy of Japan Airlines’ non-stop flights to Honolulu and United Airlines’ service to Guam.

Passengers booked onto the service from March 1st onwards will be offered a full refund by Delta Air Lines, or a free transfer onto another SkyTeam service. Currently, the only other SkyTeam member airlines operating to Nagoya are Korean Air (Seoul Incheon and Busan), Vietnam Airlines (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City), and China Airlines (Taipei Taoyuan). However, none of these carriers fly to Detroit, leaving passengers with multiple connections to travel between the two cities.

Have you flown on Delta Air Lines between Detroit and Nagoya? Have your travel plans been affected by the service cancelation? Share your experiences by commenting below.