Delta Air to use its Chinese SkyTeam partners to grow, connecting over the main hubs

The Asia Pacific region was once the laggard for Delta Air Lines. Despite the region's size, it seldom accounted for more than 3% of Delta's revenue or capacity. Asia Pacific yields were some of Delta's lowest. That changed after Delta's merger with Northwest. The region, notably Japan, was an important market for Northwest, accounting for as much as a quarter of its revenue and capacity. While Delta inherited size in Asia-Pacific, it did not receive quality: Northwest's yields were not outstanding. That has started to change and North Pacific yields in recent years are some of Delta's highest.

That is giving Delta a platform to grow. The carrier recently introduced additional services to Shanghai and Tokyo, and in the future is specifically looking to introduce a non-stop service to Taipei and re-introduce a non-stop flight to Hong Kong. The result should be to help it diversify beyond Japan, which still sees the majority of Delta's trans-Pacific capacity - despite being the only one of the big three US carriers not to have an immunised partnership with a Japanese airline.

Delta's China growth in the medium term will not follow United Airlines in serving secondary Chinese cities from the US, instead preferring connecting options with its strong SkyTeam partners China Eastern and China Southern. Delta may not rival United as the largest US carrier in Asia, but it is still far ahead of American Airlines.