Northwest Airlines today
announced that it will launch its first flight between San Francisco and
its Tokyo hub using its new Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Northwest, the first
and only U.S.-based airline to fly the A330-200, will operate the aircraft
on flight 27 departing this afternoon from San Francisco International
Airport (SFO). “The start of Northwest A330 service between San Francisco and Tokyo
offers travelers a new level of in-flight comfort and entertainment,” said
Laura Liu, vice president of international marketing and sales. “These
product enhancements will provide travelers between the Bay area, our
Tokyo hub and the many destinations we serve in the Asia/Pacific region
with amenities that exceed what’s offered by any other U.S. airline.”

Northwest’s long-range 243-passenger A330-200s are equipped with 32 of its
new World Business Class lie-flat seats, 211 re-designed seats in coach
class, and a new entertainment system in both cabins that Northwest was
the first North American airline to offer. The aircraft also features
Airbus’ enhanced interior design and according to Airbus, the quietest
long-haul cabin in the air.

STATE OF THE ART IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM

Northwest’s fully interactive in-flight entertainment system offers a wide
variety of music, movies, short subject programs, games, shopping and in-
flight information, all “on demand,” giving customers the freedom and
flexibility to start, pause or stop at any time. The gateway to all of
these features is a convenient retractable controller, making it easy to
access from any sitting position, as opposed to stationary controllers
fixed on armrests.

In World Business Class, Northwest customers are able to view any of these
features on a 10.4 inch/26.4 centimeter video screen, 50 percent larger in
size than the screens found in business class seats on other U.S.
airlines, and many international airlines. Northwest customers traveling
in coach class are able to view any of these features on a personal video
screen in the back of the seat in front of them. The screen pivots,
allowing customers to adjust it and continue viewing if the seat in front
of them is reclined.

NEW WORLD BUSINESS CLASS SEAT

World Business Class travelers enjoy an array of features available to
them on Northwest’s new seat including:

—Recline. Northwest’s seat reclines 176 degrees, essentially converting
to a lie-flat position, making sleep during flight far easier than in a
merely partially reclined seat. At 176 degrees, Northwest’s seat reclines
more than its U.S. competitors.—Length and width. At six feet, seven
inches, Northwest’s new lie-flat World Business Class seat is longer than
any other business class seat in the U.S. The seat is 20.25 inches wide.
—Privacy. Northwest’s seat offers customers a leather-wrapped privacy
canopy to provide a more private area of space.—60 inches of space
between seats, a seat “pitch” providing customers with a generous amount
of legroom and space.—110-volt personal computer power in every seat,
eliminating the need for customers to carry on cumbersome converters or
multiple batteries.—Three pre-set locations on the seat control unit,
including take-off/landing and flat and cradle, in addition to an infinite
number of adjustments travelers can make on their own.—Cycling lumbar
support, mitigating the effects of sitting for longer periods of time.—
A dimmable personal snake reading light, providing softer light for
reading that can be positioned closer to a book, magazine, or newspaper
than overhead lighting.—A six-way adjustable headrest, eliminating the
need for customers to “construct” a headrest by arranging pillows. The
headrest slides along a track that can be adjusted to travelers’
individual height.—A swivel cocktail table, furnishing travelers with a
place to rest a drink without using the larger tray table.—Four
seat-back storage pockets, providing Northwest World Business Class
customers with four different sized pockets to store items ranging in size
from eyeglasses to reading materials.—Adaptability for the comfort of
taller passengers, through an extendable seat cushion that can be adjusted
to provide additional support for knees and lower thighs. NEW COACH CLASS
SEAT

Northwest’s A330 also features a completely new coach class seat, offered
in a two-seat, aisle, four-seat, aisle, two-seat configuration throughout
much of the aircraft. As a result, no seat is more than one seat away from
an aisle.

The new coach seat features a “winged” headrest, with bendable sides,
allowing the customer to rest their head or sleep toward the side of the
seat, without having to manually create a headrest with pillows.

The middle section of the coach class cabin, including rows 10 through 23,
offers passengers a 110-volt personal computer power outlet, eliminating
the need for cumbersome power converters.
The A330 provides Northwest with up to 30 percent in fuel savings, and is
a much quieter aircraft than the DC10-30 it will replace on the San
Francisco- Tokyo route.

In addition to daily service to Tokyo, Northwest offers five daily flights
between San Francisco and its hub at Minneapolis/St. Paul, three daily
flights to its WorldGateway hub at Detroit and one daily flight to its
Memphis hub. On Dec. 15, Northwest resumes daily service from San
Francisco to Honolulu. And with its alliance partner KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines, Northwest offers daily nonstop service from San Francisco to
Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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