Northwest Airlines today announced that a survey of thousands of readers of TIME Asia magazine ranked Northwestå‘s WorldPerks program first among U.S. airline frequent flier programs, and third overall.

“We are honored that so many business and leisure flyers who read TIME Asia have selected WorldPerks as their U.S. frequent flier program of choice,” said Beth Shultis, Northwest’s vice president of marketing programs. “The WorldPerks program continues to provide valuable benefits to travelers throughout Asia and the world, and we look forward to earning the loyalty of even more frequent fliers in Asia.”

Three travel providers were recognized in each of the survey’s eight categories. Under the category “Most Popular Frequent Flier Program,” Northwest was the choice of 20% of the readers, just five percentage points behind the top program, and three points behind the second. No other U.S. airline’s frequent flier program was recognized in the top three in this category, and no other U.S. airline was recognized in any of the other airline categories.

“The results of TIME’s Readers’ Travel Choice Awards survey highlights that our readers are sophisticated travelers who appreciate and patronize Asia’s top brands in the travel sector,” says Andrew Butcher, president and publisher of TIME and FORTUNE International. “They also reflect the success of the effort and investment by winners of each category to continuously convey the quality of their services and brands in the region.”

TIME’s Readers’ Travel Choice Awards, open to readers of TIME magazine in Asia, was administered from April 8, 2002, to June 28, 2002. The eight categories include favorite business cities, airports and hotels. The questionnaires, which are inserted into TIME magazine, generated responses from 3,411 readers, spanning all of Asia.

“Northwest offers travelers more flights, more destinations, and a more convenient travel experience,” said Robert Isom, Northwest’s vice president - international. “Most importantly, travelers can book Northwest with confidence, and continue to expect that their loyalty will be rewarded through the many benefits, awards and services that have made WorldPerks a leader.”

Northwest has a number of special offers available to encourage customers to try their service. For additional information on those offers, customers can visit www.nwa.com/asia/joinwp.

Northwest offers service to more Asian destinations and flights to and within Asia than any other U.S. airline. The airline operates a hub at Tokyo’s Narita Airport that connects the U.S. gateways of Detroit, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York JFK, San Francisco and Seattle, to key destinations such as Bangkok, Beijing, Busan, Guam, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Manila, Saipan, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Taipei. Northwest also offers nonstop service from Nagoya to Detroit and Manila, and from Osaka to Detroit, Honolulu and Taipei.

TIME magazine is available to readers worldwide in Asia Europe, the Middle East and Africa, South Pacific, Canada, Latin America and the U.S. Each issue offers readers access to Time Inc.‘s global resources with regional, relevant stories. TIME is Asia’s leading weekly newsmagazine, with a circulation of about 304,000 in Asia and 600,000 across EMEA. Founded in 1923, TIME’s worldwide circulation is more than 5.6 million.

TIME is published by Time Inc., the publishing arm of AOL Time Warner.

Northwest Airlines is the world`s fourth largest airline with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam and more than 1,700 daily departures. With its travel partners, Northwest serves nearly 750 cities in almost 120 countries on six continents.

For more information pertaining to Northwest, media inquiries can be directed to Northwest Media Relations at (612) 726-2331 or to Northwest’s Web site at www.nwa.com.

——-