Media Center

Today Congressman David Scott (GA-13) applauded the announcement by Delta Air Lines of plans to link the world’s largest airport in Atlanta to Dakar, Senegal and the growing South African capital city of Johannesburg by becoming the only U.S. air carrier to provide scheduled service between the U.S. and Africa beginning December 2006.

“The addition of these routes to Africa is excellent news for Delta and the people of Georgia,” said Congressman Scott. “This news shows that Delta is working hard to come out of bankruptcy and become financially solvent. I have worked tirelessly on behalf of the thousands of Delta employees who live in my district to help Delta keep its pension plan and look forward to working with Delta Air Lines to make this new route meaningful and successful.”

With today’s announcement, Delta filed a request with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for approval to offer customers service within Africa – a process expected to take 60 to 90 days. Once approved in the U.S. Delta will then seek clearance from the governments of Senegal and South Africa. With the new service, Delta customers traveling to or from Africa would have convenient connecting opportunities to nearly 900 daily Delta and Delta Connection departures to more than 220 worldwide destinations across five continents – more than from any single airline hub in the world. Delta is the largest private employer in the 13^th Congressional District.