Delta to replace United on New York-London route By Andrew Compart, Travel Weekly, 07/28/2006 United is leaving the New York-London market is has served for 15 years, and it looks like Delta will soon be coming into what is one of the world's most popular international routes. United reached a deal to sell its New York-London route rights to Delta for a reported $21 million, pending approval from the Transportation Department and the bankruptcy court handling Delta's Chapter 11 filing. United said it plans to discontinue its daily New York (Kennedy) to London (Heathrow) service, which it has offered since April 1991, at the end of October. That's somewhat of a shock because New York to Heathrow is a heavily traveled, high-yield route U.S. airlines have fought for decades to obtain. Only two U.S. airlines--United and American--are allowed to serve Heathrow under the terms of the U.S.-U.K. aviation treaty. United, in fact, paid $400 million to obtain Heathrow access from Pan Am in 1991. (American, to keep pace, paid $445 million for TWA's Heathrow rights.) United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski, however, said the New York-London route "did not perform well" for United because the airline does not have a hub at Kennedy. She would not say whether that meant United was losing money on the route, but she said United determined it would be better off deploying more aircraft on routes to Asia. "We could no longer justify the expenses of maintaining that route, particularly when we could move those aircraft to other markets that are in high demand," Urbanski said. United said it plans to add 40 more weekly, year-round flights to its Asia Pacific schedule over the next nine months, including new service to Tokyo from its Washington Dulles hub and reinstatement of its service between San Francisco and Taipei. United also will continue its service to Heathrow from its hubs at Chicago (O'Hare), Washington (Dulles), Los Angeles and San Francisco. Delta would not be serving Heathrow if its acquisition of United's New York-London route is approved; U.S. carrier rights to serve Heathrow are specifically designated to United and American under the U.S.-U.K. treaty. Instead, Delta would use the route rights to offer service from New York to London's Gatwick Airport, which is less desirable for business travelers but still considered a money-maker. Delta said it also fits right in with its strategy to continuing building up Kennedy as an international hub for the carrier. Delta has added more than 25 new domestic and international destinations to its Kennedy operations since last fall. If the sale goes through, Delta said its first daily New York-London round-trip flight would begin later this year, with a second flight added in spring 2007. Delta said it has been trying to expand its New York service to London for more than a decade. Delta chief operating officer Jim Whitehurst said the route would "fill a critical gap in our international network." With the addition of service to London, Delta would serve 22 transatlantic markets nonstop from Kennedy, including eight destinations not served by any major U.S. carrier. Delta, however, would face plenty of competition for New York-London travelers. Its new route would compete against American and British Airways service from Kennedy to Heathrow, Virgin Atlantic's service from Kennedy and Newark to Heathrow, and Continental's service from Newark to Gatwick. In addition, two premium-class only airlines also serve the route, with Eos and Maxjet flying from Kennedy to London's Stansted Airport.