News: Delta restarts Heathrow flights to the US, KLM launches Loganair codeshare flights

News in brief:

Delta restarts US flights with a Detroit service

Delta Air Lines is restarting flights from London Heathrow this weekend.

The first destination is not its hub of Atlanta but Detroit.  There will be three services per week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

As with the current British Airways long-haul operation, this route has been chosen because it will be profitable purely on a cargo basis.  The Boeing 767 used can, apparently, take 26 tons of cargo.  Any revenue from ticketed passengers is just a bonus for the airline.

Delta will be operating out of Heathrow Terminal 2 whilst Terminal 3 remains closed.

A 2nd European route is also opening this weekend, with flights from Frankfurt to Atlanta resuming.

KLM launches a codeshare with Loganair

KLM has launched a codeshare deal with Scottish carrier Loganair.  As long as you are connecting to a KLM flight, you can now book the following routes under a KLM flight code on the KLM website:

Aberdeen – Kirkwall
Aberdeen – Sumburgh
Glasgow – Kirkwall
Glasgow – Stornoway
Glasgow – Sumburgh
Inverness – Stornoway

This means that, should you want to travel from Kirkwall (in Orkney, pop 9,292) to Bangkok (population 10.5 million), you can now do it on one through-ticket.

How to earn Flying Blue miles from UK credit cards (December 2021)

Air France and KLM do not have a UK Flying Blue credit card.  However, you can earn Flying Blue miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.  These are:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with two free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Flying Blue miles

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 5,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 5,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Flying Blue miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Flying Blue mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.