Delta Air Lines Schedules Airbus A350 On Shortest Route Between Atlanta & Orlando

Delta Air Lines continues its plan to introduce the Airbus A350-900 on short-haul routes within the U.S. this year. The aircraft, which has become the airline’s flagship jet, will fly between Atlanta and Orlando for a limited time this summer.

This follows the US legacy carrier’s opening of another short inter-hub route this week between Minneapolis and Detroit with the A350. The aircraft will significantly increase capacity on both routes.

orlando turn

According to an independent aviation blog: Isurion Aviation, Delta Airlines updated its July flight schedule on Saturday. The changes include plans for an A350-900 to begin service between the airline’s major hubs, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and Orlando International Airport (MCO), starting July 5.

Flight DL1213 will make an Orlando turn, meaning the same aircraft will turn around and return to Atlanta on the same day.

Interested in the route? Find flights between Atlanta and Orlando here!

This route has an average distance of 403 miles, making it the shortest route for Delta’s A350. However, it is short-lived and only runs for a month. Simple Flying reported this month that Delta Air Lines will begin operating the A350 on the shortest route between Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW).

Data from aviation analysis companies Kirium shows that the aircraft will operate as DL1213 only on Sundays and Mondays in July, with nine flights in each direction, for a total of 18 flights. The exact aircraft operating the route is also identified.

A350 seat configuration

According to Cirium, a total of 3,051 seats will be offered on nine one-way flights, with a capacity of 339 passengers on each flight. Delta Airlines has three versions of his A350-900 based on seating configuration. However, there are only two 3-class layouts. “359” has a capacity of 306 passengers, but “35H” has fewer seats at 275 due to the larger premium class. “35L” can accommodate the most passengers with 339 seats and will be compatible with all frequencies of DL1213 A350-900 in July.

Photo: Airbus

Ishurion Aviation noted that 35L is an A350 previously operated by LATAM Airlines. The interior of these aircraft differs from the 359 and 35H versions in a two-class configuration. The Delta One class has 30 lie-flat seats, and the main cabin has the remaining 309 seats arranged in his 3-3-3 configuration. Sixty-three seats in the main cabin are designated as Delta Comfort+ seats, with an additional 4 inches of pitch. Another class of 359 and 35H configurations is the Delta Premium Select. This is the airline’s premium economy version with a 2-4-2 layout and wide reclining seats.

Increased capacity

Adding 35L significantly increases the capacity between ATL and MCO. Due to the high demand for MCO throughout the year, Delta schedules a variety of narrowbody aircraft on this route. The airline will use A321ceo, A321neo, Boeing 737-900ER, 757-200 and 757-300 between ATL and MCO in June. With a total of 916 flights scheduled during this month, the company is offering him 185,785 seats.

In July, Delta will add the A350 to the route in addition to the same aircraft as in June, except for the A321neo. With 930 flights scheduled compared to the previous month, the airline will offer a total of 192,010 seats, an increase of more than 6,200 seats.

Photo: Ole Jatskyf | Shutterstock

According to Cirium’s data, the A350 will only enter service on this route in July. It is unclear why Delta Air Lines will use this aircraft for 18 flights, but it is likely to meet increased demand during the summer.

Read next

Spotted: Delta Air Lines’ new Airbus A350-900 in special Summer Olympics color “LA28”

The wide-body jet will be the company’s second Olympic-themed aircraft.