Delta Airlines has taken delivery of its new Airbus aircraft in Japan to avoid taxes on European products.
When Delta Air Lines take delivery of new Airbus A330neo and A350 aircraft, the flight depart from Toulouse directly to Japan
Why the planes don’t fly to airline’s main hub in Atlanta?
The United States currently imposes customs taxes on foreign-made aircraft to prevent unfair competition with Boeing aircraft. This means that when an airline buy a new plane outside the country, it has to pay an extra tax for it when the aircraft comes to the United States. As an A350 have a value of 320 million USD, a 10% tax represents 32 million USD.
To avoid these taxes, Delta Air Lines is shipping some new A330NEOs and A350s directly to Tokyo from Toulouse, saying the planes will primarily be based in Tokyo.
Japan has no specific taxes on foreign aircraft and the overall tax rate is somewhat lower than in the United States. Therefore, Delta saves a lot of money through this strategy while renewing its fleet of long-haul aircraft.