Delta Air Lines will return to both Singapore and Manila. Aviation watchdog JonNYC, who hinted Singapore was coming back in July, now dishes that Delta is ready to announce new service.
Looks like DL to announce SIN and MNL
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) October 29, 2025
One Mile at a Time also wrote to expect this. Delta has served these destinations before.
- Delta’s last scheduled passenger flight into Singapore Changi Airport was September 22, 2019.
- Their last Tokyo Narita – Manila flight was March 27, 2020. They planned to start Seoul – Manila on March 29. That slipped to May 1, 2020 but – thanks to the pandemic – didn’t start until January 2, 2021. But it didn’t last – getting suspended in May 2021. Asia was late to re-open during Covid.
Delta has the right to operate flights beyond Tokyo to other countries. They acquired it when they bought Northwest. United Airlines has this, also, from acquiring Pan Am’s Pacific routes. These were part of the spoils of World War II.
Northwest’s and Pan Am’s Fifth Freedom rights were approved by the Allied occupation authority led by General Douglas MacArthur. When Japan regained sovereignty in 1952 under the Treaty of San Francisco, these route authorities were grandfathered under new bilateral agreements (that Japan had little leverage to revoke).
However, when Delta gained the opportunity to operate to close-in Tokyo Haneda airport instead of just Narita, it made sense to move their long haul flights – but they didn’t have the slots at Haneda to fly within Asia. So they dropped the Tokyo ‘beyond flights’ and leaned into their joint venture with Korean Air to fly passengers deeper in Asia.
Meanwhile, Delta’s Asia gateway in Seattle has struggled. It hasn’t made sense to add new long haul there – although now Alaska is growing its own long haul from Seattle. When Delta added Hong Kong it was from Los Angeles, not Seattle.
In some ways Manila is a surprise. It’s a strong visiting friends and relatives market, and great if you want to visit shopping malls. But it’s not the traditional business destination like Singapore and not a strong vacation destination either. Maybe I just love the food in Singapore more (which is why I’d have loved to see Kuala Lumpur added, too!).
Singapore Airlines or Delta… Not a hard decision to make…
@Tim Dunn — It’s happening! Keep Climbing! 100 more years! Excelsior!
@MaxPower — You see that? The duopoly continues. Where will Delta copy-next? Mongolia, perhaps? Bah!
Great scoop but a tad confused. Is it through Tokyo vs nonstop? What time is the original flight and arrival? Layover? Type of equipment ?
Maybe non-stop LAX to MNL where the competition is limited to Philippine Airline’s aging 777 fleet with 2-3-2 business class seating (horrible).
Old news, Gary.
And regardless, what traveler would ever pick Delta over Singapore Airlines in ANY cabin. Let alone any USA based carrier? That’s a no brainer without question.
@reyL — Cut PR some slack; those over-crowded 2-3-2 business class merely prepare travelers for dealing with the notorious congestion on roadways in Manila…
Delta is in a tough position. United pretty much owns the Pacific routes since Delta abandoned everything, including the islands. Back in the day, there was even a lounge at Manila. There’s a huge Filipino population in the US that goes back more than a century but how many of them are paying $7,000 to fly Delta One? Singapore could be doable but it’s hard to see Delta offering a better product than Singapore Airlines. Plus, if you’re east of Chicago, you could just as easily fly to Singapore through Europe or the Middle East. Can Delta really make money flying one flight a day? It’s going to need perfect timing for connections. And if there are any IROPs, it’s going to be a disaster. Plus, Delta won’t have much name recognition and zero local partners in Singapore and Manila.