Unlike DL, UA operates fifth freedom flights to BKK and SGN—or other destinations—once it launches nonstop service from San Francisco (SFO) to BKK and SGN. As a result, competition from DL will help drive down fares on the LAX–HKG route, which is a positive outcome.

• Delta and United effectively have the same fifth freedom rights in Asia
• You forgot to make "operates" past-tense

I should have used future tense because HKG-SGN and HKG-BKK have not started yet.

It would be quite surprising if DL were to offer any 5th freedom flights from HKG. They've become far more dependent on partners (i.e., KE) to connect intra-Asia than UA.

I honestly don't see the logic behind DL's re-introduction of this route.

To get their customers to HK.

UA pulled ORD-HKG (and GUM-HKG) around the time of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and simultaneously wrote down a few hundred million in goodwill on its routes/slots/gates at HKG, based on forward-looking projections of losses. At the time, COVID was not a factor.

DL is very dependent on KE because of DL and KE's TPAC JV, resulting in DL having a lot of feeder flights from most of its hubs to ICN and KE would connect pax to other destinations in Asia. The JV indirectly discourages DL from having fifth freedom flights in Asia.

United honestly isn't all that different in this respect. In most cases, if you end up at a United spoke (e.g. SIN, TPE, HKG, ICN, PVG, PEK, MNL), you're on your own for the rest.

I still think the best Asian food is still up north beyond the border.

However, there are some pretty decent offerings now in Seattle Chinatown. If you go to Bellevue, there seems to be a lot more 'ethnic' mainland Chinese food, as well as Taiwanese.

Could these explain the recent relative success of the Asian flights to/ from SEA?

Soon after it started TPE, three other airlines joined in. Then there were rumors DL was considering a return to MNL, and PR hurriedly restarted flights, and is now increasing frequencies. It would be interesting to see the competition that DL will face on this HKG-LAX route!

Seems like DL may have its hands full in SEA, battling three other carriers to TPE, then AS wanting to build its own international hub there.

There are many markets ex-LAX that support more than 3 carriers, and I don't foresee HKG going above 3 in the near future (i.e. slim odds of AA, HX, or SQ returning, and AS wouldn't attempt something so brazen).

But UA has much more of those spokes than DL as of right now: SIN, HKG, MNL, PEK, KIX. DL needs to shunt you onto KE metal just to get to those places (will soon change with HKG obviously).

SQ never flew LAX-HKG. They flew SFO-HKG.

True. UA is much less reliant upon NH than DL is KE or AA is JL, but the JVs have permanently replaced (or at least damaged beyond repair) the alliance concept.

I actually wasn't sure about that, but I remember flying them between LAX and NRT + ICN (SFO-ICN also), so I thought they probably tried HKG, at least for a stint. SQ1 in the mid 90s was actually my first tpac experience..

They did fly LAX-TPE-SIN though: one briefly post COVID and one longer stint a decade+ ago.

SQ also flew SIN-ICN-LAX up until 2018.