Delta Air Lines, attempting to increase its share of lucrative international corporate travel, announced a new round of expansion to emerging markets, including flights to Dubai and to Bucharest, Romania, while laying the groundwork for future expansion to Asia, the Wall Street Journal reports. Long dependent on U.S. domestic travelers, Delta is trying to catch up with several big U.S. airlines that are charting their courses for growth in the surging international air travel market, as global trade continues to be driven by the exploding economies of China, India and other parts of Asia. Airlines are targeting the higher profits available on international flights in part because their business-class fares are the only tickets that have survived the cost-cutting efforts of big corporations. The new Delta routes are from Atlanta to Prague, Vienna, Dubai, and Seoul. The Atlanta-based airline is also adding new flights from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Pisa/Florence, Italy, and Bucharest, Romania. Delta, the third-largest U.S. carrier in terms of traffic, says it will increase frequencies on flights from Atlanta and JFK to Brazil and Ireland.
