AUSTIN (KXAN) — Delta Air Lines will launch five new nonstop routes from Austin in the new year, the airline announced Monday.
First up will be service to Panama City, Florida, beginning March 9. Flights to Indianapolis and Memphis will start May 7, while flights to San Francisco and Tampa will launch June 8. All of the new routes will operate year-round with daily flights.
The Panama City, Indianapolis and Memphis routes will be operated by SkyWest as Delta Connection on Embraer 175 aircraft. The San Francisco and Tampa routes will be on Delta’s Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
The announcement comes after Delta previously said it would launch nonstop AUS-New Orleans service beginning Feb. 27. The airline also launched four new routes from Austin this year: Nashville, McAllen, Midland/Odessa and Harlingen.
The new flights mean Delta will have the second-largest market share at AUS based on the number of daily departing flights.
“Delta has made its commitment to Austin known, and these new routes and the 55 peak-day departures planned for Summer 2025 reaffirm that,” said Joe Esposito, senior vice president for network planning. “This is on top of the already 20% seat capacity increase we put into service in April connecting Austin to new destinations in major corporate and leisure markets both within Texas and outside the state — onward throughout our global network.”
Three of the new routes launched by Delta — Indianapolis, Memphis and Tampa — were previously served by American Airlines, which has cut more than 30 routes from AUS over the past year. The announcement means Delta will be the only airline offering direct service to Memphis.
The Indianapolis route is also served by Allegiant Air and Southwest Airlines. Panama City is served by American and Southwest. San Francisco is served by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, while Tampa is served by Southwest.
“We’re incredibly excited to join Delta in celebrating these new routes,” said Ghizlane Badawi, CEO of Austin-Bergstrom. “Delta has been making significant investments to connect Austin and Central Texas with more choices, greater convenience, and enhanced connectivity. They’re a valued airport and community partner and we look forward to supporting their continued growth at AUS.”
Delta has seen large passenger growth at Austin-Bergstrom in recent months. The airline flew more than 1.8 million passengers in and out of AUS between January and July this year, a 23.5% increase over the same time period last year. At the same time, American’s passenger totals have fallen 16%.
The airline is the third-largest operating at AUS in terms of passenger traffic, behind Southwest and American. Delta accounted for 14.5% of all passengers between January and July.