Northwest Airlines today marks the 25th anniversary of its first passenger
flight to Europe by announcing that beginning today, flights from Detroit
to Paris will feature the airline’s new Airbus A330-300 aircraft.
On March 31, 1979, the airline’s first flight to Europe (utilizing a
Boeing 747-200 aircraft) took off from Minneapolis/St. Paul International
Airport, made stops at Detroit and New York, and then continued on to
Copenhagen, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden.

The first Northwest Airlines cargo service to Europe also took place 25
years ago, on a February 9, 1979 flight from New York and Boston to
Glasgow, Scotland.

Today, Northwest will begin using its Airbus A330-300 aircraft for flights
between Detroit and Paris. The A330-300, the first entirely new aircraft
type to join Northwest’s fleet since 1989, entered service with Northwest
in August 2003 and has been used extensively on the carrier’s Detroit to
Amsterdam service. The twin-engine jet is replacing the DC10-30 as
Northwest’s flagship aircraft for trans-Atlantic travel. The 298-seat
airplane, which also is used for flights between Detroit and Frankfurt,
includes the new “lie-flat” World Business Class seat, a new coach class
seat placed in a configuration that puts no seat more than one seat away
from an aisle, and a completely interactive personal in-flight
entertainment system.

Northwest’s current European service, in association with joint venture
partner, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, now includes daily flights from Detroit
to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Frankfurt, Germany, London, Paris, and Rome
(summer seasonal service to Rome). Daily nonstop service from
Minneapolis/St. Paul is available to Amsterdam and London, and from
Memphis, Tenn. to Amsterdam. Northwest/KLM also offers frequent service to
Amsterdam from their gateways at Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los
Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Montreal, Newark, N.J., New York (JFK), San
Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Washington.

Customers also are enjoying more reach to all of Europe, India, the Middle
East, Africa, as well as Asia as a result of Northwest’s alliance with KLM.

“Northwest Airlines is proud to commemorate 25 years of providing service
to Europe,” said Phil Haan, executive vice president, international,
sales, and information services. “We know how very important our European
service is to our business, leisure, and cargo customers. Our commitment
to Europe is exemplified by our use of innovative aircraft such as the
Airbus A330-300, efficient airports, convenient schedules, and
industry-leading technology that make the best use of our customers’ time.”
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