Delta Air Lines announces first-ever direct flight from Utah to this Asian country

Delta Air Lines just announced plans to launch nonstop service from Salt Lake City International Airport to Seoul-Incheon International Airport in South Korea starting next summer in a first-ever offering from the carrier’s biggest hub in the western U.S.
The new route will be the only direct flight linking Salt Lake City to Asia and is set to begin service on June 12, 2025.
“The launch of Salt Lake City to Seoul service offers customers convenient access to Delta’s growing global network and ensures that virtually all U.S. demand is connected to Seoul via nonstop or one-stop service,” Joe Esposito, Delta’s senior vice president of network planning, said in a press release. “As Salt Lake City continues to grow as a vital Delta hub, our strong joint venture with Korean Air allows us to offer unmatched connectivity between the U.S. and Asia, leveraging strong hubs on both sides. This ensures that customers, including those in the interior U.S., have access not just to Seoul but to key destinations across Asia.”
Delta is easily the busiest carrier flying out of Salt Lake City, where the Atlanta-based airline operates nearly 250 peak-day departures to more than 90 destinations — more flights than all the other carriers at the airport combined. The new direct service to Seoul builds Delta’s list of nonstop international flights from Salt Lake City that includes Amsterdam, London, Paris and Mexico City, among others.
The announcement comes on the same day Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, on a trade mission to South Korea and Japan, met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
“As we open this new gateway to Asia, I am excited to expand Utah’s global reach and foster new cultural and business partnerships,” Cox said in a press statement. “Delta’s commitment to our state underscores Utah’s growing role on the world stage. I was delighted to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol and discuss how this new route will deepen connections between Utah and Korea.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall celebrated the new service and its potential as a gateway connection to other Asian destinations.
“Strong partnerships can often have the biggest impacts on visitors and our residents,” Mendenhall said in a press release. “From Delta’s Salt Lake City hub, the Incheon route will connect our capital city with 80-plus destinations in Asia, expanding our community’s global reach and what so many already know. Salt Lake City and the Mountain West are among the best places to visit and an even better place to call home.”
Also, the University of Utah’s Asia Campus in Incheon just marked its 10th anniversary.