Delta Air Lines Inc. has canceled the launch of a new flight from Atlanta to Luanda, Angola.
The service to the oil-rich country on Africa‘s southwestern coast was slated to begin Jan. 20 but was put off due to weak consumer demand, said Delta spokesman Kent Landers.
Delta gained government approvals for the route in 2010 after a two-year application process.
“We retain the necessary government approvals to start the route at a future date,” said Mr. Landers, though he didn’t say if or when the airline plans to retry the launch.
The Atlanta-Luanda flight was to include a stop in Dakar, Senegal, which Delta currently serves from New York. Atlanta-Dakar service will not begin independent of the Angola route, Mr. Landers said. Delta previously offered service from Atlanta to Dakar but moved it to New York in 2009.
Delta’s expansion into Africa, unprecedented for an American airline, hasn’t always been smooth. In 2009, planned flight launches to Nairobi, Kenya, and Monrovia, Liberia, were nixed by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which cited insufficient security at the African airports.
Delta launched the Liberia flight in 2010 but has yet to begin Kenya service.
Visit www.delta.com for more information.
