Delta has reached an agreement with Air Lease Corporation (ALC) to lease two new Airbus A330-900neo aircraft set for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021. These aircraft will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines.

“These two incremental aircraft represent an opportunistic play to fulfill our near-term widebody aircraft needs for our customers and employees as older generation aircraft are retired and to support measured growth in 2021,” said Greg May, Delta’s Senior Vice President – Fleet and Technical Procurement.

“We’re also pleased that the engines on these aircraft will be maintained by Delta TechOps professionals through our partnership with Rolls-Royce.”

Separately, Delta has made an agreement with Airbus to accelerate three planned A330-900neo deliveries, with two arriving in the fourth quarter of 2020 and another in the first quarter of 2021. As a result, Delta expects to take delivery of seven total A330-900neo aircraft in 2020.

In September, the aircraft debuted on Seattle service to Seoul-Incheon and on October 27 will begin Seattle flying to Tokyo-Narita.