Northwest has announced an expansion of its European flight network with new service to Brussels, Belgium and Düsseldorf, Germany, as well as the first and only nonstop service between Hartford, Conn. and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.The airline, in cooperation with its joint venture partner, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, also announced that it will add more flights in the Detroit - Amsterdam and Boston - Amsterdam markets.

“Northwest’s new service will conveniently connect Detroit and the Heartland of America to more of Europe’s top business and leisure destinations and provide additional service from the East Coast to the Northwest/KLM European hub at Amsterdam,” said Doug Steenland, Northwest president and chief executive, at a news conference at Detroit. “The combination of our customer-focused WorldGateway at Detroit hub, competitive costs, and the Boeing 757 aircraft, which allows us to match capacity with economically viable demand, has made this major expansion possible.”
Northwest will add to its existing service to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris by offering new flights to:

Brussels, beginning May 7, 2007, initiating Northwest’s first nonstop service to Belgium.
Düsseldorf, beginning June 5, 2007, marking Northwest’s first nonstop service in the market and its second destination in Germany, complementing its existing Detroit - Frankfurt service.

“Brussels and Düsseldorf are among the most popular European destinations for business and leisure travelers who currently do not enjoy nonstop service from our WorldGateway at Detroit hub,” said Phil Haan, executive vice president - international, alliances and information technology and chairman of NWA Cargo. “The 160-seat 757 also allows us to offer service in these new markets now, as well as provide our customers with more choices through additional frequencies in existing markets.”
Travelers will be able to make convenient connections through Detroit from more than 146 cities in North America served by Northwest and Northwest Airlink.

Unlike some of its competitors’ hubs, all of Northwest’s domestic and international flights at Detroit are conveniently located in one terminal. In addition, customers traveling through Northwest’s WorldGateway at Detroit hub enjoy a seamless facility experience, regardless of whether flying on a 400-seat 747-400 or a 50-seat regional jet. Northwest and Northwest Airlink customers board their flights at the WorldGateway through fully-enclosed, climate-controlled loading bridges. The WorldGateway was built with many other features and comforts specifically in response to the requests and preferences of travelers, all of which make it a more convenient and comfortable place to make a connection.

Northwest and its Northwest Airlink partners currently offer 507 flights per day from Detroit to 124 domestic and 29 international destinations worldwide.

Northwest also announced that beginning July 1, 2007, it will make Hartford its 18th gateway to Europe through its Amsterdam hub. The daily service will provide the first and only nonstop flight connecting Hartford travelers with one of Europe’s most popular business and leisure destinations, and establish Hartford’s only nonstop trans-Atlantic service.

Through its Amsterdam hub, Northwest and KLM connect North America to Europe through daily service from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston (Intercontinental), Los Angeles, Memphis, Tenn., Mexico City, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Montreal, New York (JFK), Newark, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, British Columbia and Washington D.C.

As another part of its European expansion, Northwest/KLM announced it will double the number of daily flights offered between both Amsterdam and Boston from one to two, as well as add a fifth frequency between Detroit and Amsterdam in the peak summer season and a fourth frequency during the winter, providing travelers with a greater schedule of flights to choose.

In addition, Northwest/KLM will offer a third daily frequency from New York (JFK) to Amsterdam, operated by KLM. This additional flight is made possible by Northwest operating the existing service from Newark to Amsterdam, which was previously operated by KLM.

KLM/Northwest also announced that it was adding up to five extra weekly frequencies between Amsterdam and Los Angeles and Toronto.

Northwest/KLM’s new daily frequencies between Detroit and Amsterdam will begin June 15, 2007, its second daily flight between Amsterdam and Boston will begin July 15, 2007, and changes to Northwest/KLM’s Newark and New York flight schedules will occur July 1, 2007.

Northwest’s new Detroit-Brussels and Detroit-Düsseldorf flights will initially operate five days per week. Beginning June 15, 2007, all of the flights will be offered on a daily basis.

Northwest’s new flights between the U.S. and Europe will be operated with Boeing 757-200 aircraft. The aircraft are being fitted with “winglets,” or extensions of the aircraft wing, that improve the fuel efficiency of the 757 and in doing so, also extend its range.

Inside the aircraft, Northwest is making several improvements to the fleet dedicated to this new service in order to provide trans-Atlantic customers with a comfortable travel experience.

The World Business Class cabin will be configured with 16 new seats in a two-aisle-two arrangement. The World Business Class seat will provide five feet (1.5 meters) of personal space. The seat will have many features including a four-way movable headrest, laptop computer power port, snake reading light, extendable foot rest and lumbar support, among other comforts.

World Business Class customers will be provided with a portable in-flight entertainment system with a wide variety of 40 movies, four short-subject videos, 16 music programs, 40 compact discs of music and six games to choose from, all available on-demand, so they can choose and play their entertainment when it fits their needs.

The coach class cabin will be equipped with 144 seats, configured in a three-aisle-three arrangement. The “pitch,” or distance between rows, is being increased up to four inches, providing additional legroom and comfort.

All of Northwest’s new flights are currently available for sale through the airline’s Web site at www.nwa.com, Northwest Reservations Centers at 1-800-447-4747, or through some travel agents. The flights will be widely available for sale beginning Saturday, Oct. 14.
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