Delta adds new routes to Venice and Athens for summer 2027 (schedules loaded)

For the second weekend running Delta has used its Saturday night updates to add new routes to its network. Last week it was all about Los Angeles. This week, the updates have more of an East Coast/Midwest focus with two gateways getting new routes to Venice and Athens and select European routes returning earlier for summer 2027.

Delta’s new routes for 2027

Boston to Venice

From 7 May 2027, Delta will operate a new seasonal route between Boston and Venice, flying four times a week until 29 October 2027.

DL344 BOS 19:35 – 09:30+1 day VCE (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)
DL345 VCE 11:40 – 14:32 BOS (Mon, Tue, Thu & Sat)

This route will be operated by an Airbus A330-300 offering these seating options:

• 34 Delta One seats (Zodiac Cirrus) set out in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone layout, which offer 19.7″ of width and which convert into fully flat beds.
• 21 Premium Select seats (Collins MiQ) set out in a 2-3-2 layout, which offer 38″ of pitch (legroom) and 18.5″ of width.
• 24 Comfort seats set out in a 2-4-2 layout, which offer 34″ of pitch (legroom) and 18″ of width.
• 203 Main Cabin seats set out in a 2-4-2 layout, which offer 32″ of pitch (legroom) and 18″ of width.

Note: The Delta One seats on this aircraft don’t have privacy doors, and none of the cabins offer Bluetooth pairing or wireless charging.

Seat data courtesy of AeroLOPA.

Delta says Venice will be the 13th long-haul destination it serves from Boston at the peak of summer (and the 12th in continental Europe), and Boston will become its third US gateway to Venice (the others being New York JFK and Atlanta).

According to the airline, the new route will take its service to Italy to as many as 17 departures a day from the US at the peak of summer, with more than 30,000 nonstop seats a week.

Detroit to Athens

From 8 June 2027, Delta will operate a new seasonal route between Detroit and Athens, flying three times a week until 28 October 2027.

DL308 DTW 18:05 – 11:00+1 day ATH (Tue, Thu & Sat)
DL309 ATH 12:55 – 17:34 DTW (Wed, Fri & Sun)

This route will be operated by an Airbus A330-200, which offers the same cabins and seats as the A330-300 on the Venice route (see above): 34 Delta One seats, 21 Premium Select seats and 24 Comfort seats.

The difference is in the Main Cabin section, where this aircraft has 144 seats, against 203 on the A330-300.

This will be the first nonstop service between Detroit and Athens and Delta says that this will be the 12th long-haul destination it serves from Detroit at the peak of summer (and the seventh in continental Europe). Detroit will become the airline’s fourth US gateway to the Greek capital (the others being New York JFK, Atlanta, and Boston).

What else is new

Delta has also confirmed changes to several routes it already flies.

Boston to Milan

Boston to Milan Malpensa is a seasonal route which, this year, is operating four times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun) from 17 May to 23 October on an Airbus A330-300.

From 6 May 2027, Delta will operate the route daily with the same aircraft.

This is what the June 2027 schedule currently looks like*:

DL268 BOS 19:55 – 09:25+1 day MXP (Daily)
DL269 MXP 11:35 – 14:40 BOS (Daily)

*Be aware that these timings may change between now and next summer.

New York (JFK) to Copenhagen

The New York JFK to Copenhagen route returned on 29 March this year and operated five times a week until 8 May. Since then it has operated daily, and it’s due to keep operating until 23 October using a Boeing 767-300ER.

For 2027, the route will return on 27 March 2027 and will operate daily from the start. Originally, Delta had filed a 2027 restart date of 28 May (HT: AeroRoutes).

This is what the June 2027 schedule currently looks like*:

DL302 JFK 16:50 – 06:45+1 day CPH (Daily)
DL303 CPH 09:00 – 11:40 JFK (Daily)

*Be aware that these timings may change between now and next summer.

Earlier starts

Delta tells us that these six seasonal routes will return earlier in 2027 than they did this year:

In 2026, the Atlanta to Edinburgh route operated five times a week until 10 May before going daily. In 2027 it will be daily from the start.

This year’s services on five of these routes are due to end on 22 or 23 October, while New York JFK to Porto is set to continue into January 2027. Delta hasn’t yet confirmed when the five routes will end in 2027, but logic dictates that it should be around the same time.

Already announced

Delta’s release also mentions a few things that had already been announced or reported, which is why they aren’t covered above:

• Austin to Paris: This new route launches on 27 March 2027 and will operate daily. Delta first announced this on 13 August 2026.
• Detroit to Rome: This comes back daily from March 2027. This was announced in April 2026.
• New York JFK to Catania: This is another route returning in March 2027 (this time after a short winter break). This was first reported in April 2026.
• Cincinnati to Paris: This isn’t a new route and it’s now year-round with Delta adding three flights a week from January to March 2027, filling the gap it used to have in the winter season. This was reported in April 2026.

Thoughts

It’s always good to see more routes being offered, but the two new ones loaded over the weekend aren’t really groundbreaking, are they? Delta already operates two routes to Venice and three routes to Athens, so this appears to be more about Delta making the most of two destinations that have served it well so far rather than taking a leaf out of United’s book and doing something genuinely new.

What I’m taking away from this news is that Delta is mostly very happy with how its summer 2026 European routes have performed. What other explanation can there be for two new summer routes to Europe (to existing destinations) and a host of other European routes starting earlier in 2027 than they did in 2026?

That’s very good news for Delta, even if it is a little surprising given the reluctance that a lot of Europeans have been expressing about travel to the US for most of this year.

Perhaps that reluctance has been overstated or, perhaps, the success Delta appears to be seeing is driven by demand from the US side of the Atlantic. I suspect it’s the latter, but whichever it is, I’m sure that Delta’s executives don’t care.

Related: American Airlines adds 2 new destinations and 7 new long-haul routes for summer 2027

Bottom line

Delta will launch a 4x weekly route between Boston and Venice on 7 May 2027 and a 3x weekly route between Detroit and Athens on 8 June 2027, both operated by Airbus A330 aircraft.

On top of that, the Boston to Milan route will go daily from 6 May 2027, New York JFK to Copenhagen will be daily from its 27 March 2027 restart, and six seasonal routes will return earlier next year.

What do you think of Delta’s new routes?