Delta Air Lines to launch its first international route from Austin in 14 years
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Delta Air Lines will launch its first international route from Austin in 14 years this December.
Nonstop flights from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to Cancun will begin Dec. 20. The seasonal route will continue through mid-April 2026, and flights will operate daily using Airbus A320 aircraft.
Delta previously operated the AUS-CUN route in 2011. The airline has had no international service from Austin since then.
Rivals American Airlines and Southwest Airlines also both offer nonstop service between Austin and Cancun.
In addition to the new route, Delta will also increase service to Orlando to twice daily flights during the peak winter travel season.
The Cancun route is Delta’s eighth new route from AUS announced so far this year. Nonstop service to New Orleans began Thursday, while flights to Panama City, Florida, are set to begin March 9. Service to Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Memphis will launch in May, ahead of flights to San Francisco and Tampa beginning in June.
The airline said the new routes mean its number of departures from Austin will be up more than 35% year-over-year. The carrier will operate nearly 60 peak-day departures this winter, according to Paul Baldoni, Delta’s senior vice president of network planning.
Delta is currently the third-largest airline operating at AUS in terms of passenger traffic, behind Southwest and American. The airline flew more than 3.3 million passengers in and out of Austin in 2024, accounting for about 15.3% of all passengers.
That share has increased in recent years, up from 11.6% in 2022, especially after American cut more than 30 routes in late 2023 and 2024. Delta is expected to surpass American to become Austin’s second-largest carrier by the summer, according to Jamy Kazanoff, deputy chief of air service at AUS.
