Virgin Atlantic partner Delta Air Lines trimmed its third-quarter revenue forecast amid concerns of overcapacity on transatlantic and Pacific routes.
The Atlanta-based airline said it expected third-quarter passenger revenues to rise between 2% and 3%, compared to earlier projections as high as 4%. Delta also lifted its third-quarter expected fuel costs.
Chief financial officer Paul Jacobson said the airline was taking action to reduce its capacity on flights between the two regions, including trimming planned flight increases to Europe. However, the UK remains a “key market”.
Jacobson, speaking at an investor conference, added the “Ebola situation, as well as geopolitical events elsewhere in the Middle East and in Russia” have had “an impact on our unit revenues,” the Financial Times reported.
Delta reported a “solid” performance continuing through August with revenue up by 2% year on year driven by the strength of US domestic travel.
This offset pressure from the impact of events in Russia, the Middle East and Africa, the airline said.
Delta noted revenue passenger miles on its transatlantic flights in August was roughly flat from a year earlier.
The caution over third quarter performance affected shares in Delta and other US airlines.
The news coincided with Delta confirming the launch of daily flights from Manchester to New York JFK from June 2, 2015 and a Heathrow-Newark service from March 29, both in conjuction with Virgin Atlantic.
Delta’s new Newark operation is part of a network update by Virgin Atlantic where Delta will operate one of Virgin’s two Newark services while the UK carrier will start its first daily non-stop service from Manchester to Atlanta.
The increase to joint venture flying from Manchester will give access to more than 200 connecting destinations through Delta’s Atlanta and New York-JFK hubs.
Delta EMEA senior vice-president Perry Cantarutti said: “The UK is a key market for us and building our connections to the United States is a top priority.
“Our partnership with Virgin Atlantic continues to grow and is focused on improving services while offering more destinations and schedule choice for our customers.”