
You may know by now that Delta Air Lines
will begin flying to its third Australian city—Melbourne—in December 2025, during the peak summer Down Under and in time for Christmas and the New Year. It will be the SkyTeam’s second new destination this year, joining Catania. The start of Melbourne flights will come a year after Delta began flying to Brisbane.
Delta will fly from Los Angeles to Melbourne. It will join Qantas and United, becoming the city pair’s third operator since Virgin Australia pulled out in 2020. Delta will run three weekly on its lowest-capacity, highest-premium, 275-seat Airbus A350-900,
against daily for its two competitors.

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Four of the 10 have now been cut or will end soon.
Delta’s 10 longest routes: 2025
The following table shows them. Los Angeles to Melbourne has pushed Los Angeles to Shanghai Pudong, due to return in June, out of the top 10.
Unsurprisingly, all 10 entries deploy the A350-900, whether the 283-ton MTOW version or Delta’s original, standard, 306-seat layout (as shown below). Due to the stage lengths, the heavier and less premium 339-seat ex-LATAM configuration is not used.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The 275-seat layout has 40 Delta One suites, 40 seats in Premium Select, 36 in Comfort+, and just 159 seats in the main cabin. According to ch-aviation, Delta now has seven aircraft with that many seats.
By being more premium than other A350 configurations, the 275-seat version is lighter and burns less fuel, increasing range. It also benefits from stronger take-off performance, particularly useful from hot and high Johannesburg back to Atlanta, Delta’s longest route.
Previously, Johannesburg saw higher-capacity equipment, which had a payload restriction back to the US. Fewer seats (and perhaps less freight space) could be sold, undermining economics and performance.
Distances are based on the great circle. Given the similarity of some entries, the order will be different for real-world operations. It also varies by maximum block time, although the top two remain the same by distance and time.
Nautical miles (km) | Max. block time* | Route | Comments about 2025 operations |
---|---|---|---|
7,333 (13,581) | 17h 00m | Atlanta to Johannesburg | Daily year-round. 275-seat A350-900 |
7,065 (13,084) | 16h 35m | Atlanta to Cape Town | Three weekly year-round. 275-seat A350-900 |
6,883 (12,747) | 15h 50m | Los Angeles to Melbourne | New route for Delta. Begins December 3. Three weekly 275-seat A350-900 |
6,507 (12,051) | 15h 25m | Los Angeles to Sydney | 11 weekly in the northern winter and daily in the northern summer. Standard 306-seat A350-900 |
6,223 (11,525) | 14h 55m | Los Angeles to Brisbane | Flights started in December 2024. Three weekly northern winter seasonal. 306-seat A350-900 |
6,215 (11,510) | 16h 05m | Atlanta to Seoul Incheon | Double daily year-round. 275-seat A350-900 |
6,202 (11,486) | 16h 15m | Detroit to Shanghai Pudong | Daily year-round. 306-seat A350-900 |
5,981 (11,077) | 14h 40m | Atlanta to Tokyo Haneda | Daily year-round. 275- and 306-seat A350-900 |
5,767 (10,680) | 15h 25m | Detroit to Seoul Incheon | Daily year-round. Nearly always the 275-seat A350-900 |
5,651 (10,466) | 13h 30m | Los Angeles to Auckland | Daily in the northern winter, three weekly in the northern summer. Standard 306-seat A350-900 |
* Either direction across the whole year |
Photo: Brisbane Airport
Other very long routes existed
Delta’s longest-ever nonstop service was from Atlanta to Mumbai, covering 7,395 nautical miles (13,696 km) each way. It only existed between November 2008 and October 2009. All flights were on the Boeing 777-200LR.
Other particularly long Delta routes that no longer exist include the following, all of which used the 777-200LR or 777-200ER. Note the aptness of the first entry’s distance.
- New York JFK to Mumbai (6,777 nautical miles, 12,551 km; November 2006-October 2008, then December 2019-March 2020)
- Atlanta to Dubai (6,603 nautical miles, 12,229 km; May 2007-February 2016)
- Atlanta to Kuwait (6,177, 11,440; November 2008-June 2009)

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What might happen in the future?
Delta’s A350-1000s are due to start arriving in 2026. They will become the SkyTeam member’s highest-capacity equipment.
According to Delta’s November 2024 investor relations presentation, 50%+ of seats will be premium. For now, the type with the highest proportion of premium seats is the A330-900, at 40%. (Delta defines any class above Comfort+ as premium.)
Photo: Delta
High capacity and very premium. Inevitably, Delta will fly its A350-1000s in highly trafficked and high-yielding markets that are slot-constrained and where it is difficult to grow by adding frequencies. London Heathrow and Tokyo Haneda will probably see them.
But it will also use the variant to open up new routes. Delta has previously mentioned returning to India (in partnership with IndiGo) and potentially beginning Saudi Arabia service (it now has a codeshare agreement with Saudia). But will it use the A350-1000 to start an even longer route than Atlanta to Johannesburg? Time will tell.
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