Which will be the world’s largest airline?

Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. reached agreement on a merger deal yesterday that, if approved by regulators, would create the world's largest airline. The combined airline will be headquartered in Atlanta, GA and will retain the Delta name. The merged carrier will have nearly $18 billion enterprise value, and will be run by Delta CEO Richard Anderson. Combined, the new company will serve more than 390 destinations in 67 countries, operating a fleet of nearly 800 aircraft and employ approximately 75,000 people worldwide.

According to Delta, customers will benefit from the combined carrier’s financial stability, as well as the opportunity to fly to more destinations, have more schedule options and more opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles.

The merger is subject to the approval of Delta and Northwest shareholders and antitrust regulatory approvals. It is expected that the regulatory review period will be completed later this year.

Delta Air Lines expands international services from New York-JFK

Delta announced plans to offer increased choice on 14 new international routes from JFK, including nine transatlantic destinations not served by any other U.S. major airline — Edinburgh, Malaga, Cairo, Tel Aviv, Amman, Lagos, Dakar, Cape Town and Nairobi, the last two via Dakar. In addition, the Atlanta-based airline is introducing an improved schedule for summer 2008 that aims to meet the growing customer demand at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport while taking steps to reduce airport congestion and delays during peak hours.