Northwest Airlines today
announced continued growth at its WorldGateway hub—and additional
options for travelers—with new nonstop service between Detroit and both
Rockford, Ill., and Ithaca, N.Y., beginning May 2. Over the past year Northwest has begun or announced service to 18
destinations from Detroit—including 10 new cities in Northwest’s
growing global network. The latest additions will bring to 163 the total
number of destinations in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe
and Asia served from the efficient and passenger-friendly WorldGateway hub.

Based in a 2 million-square-foot (185,800-square-meter) facility, the
WorldGateway hub features 97 domestic and international gates in three
concourses. A 900-foot tunnel, 1.5 miles of moving walkways and two
200-passenger indoor trams that travel a mile in two and a half minutes
ensure that passengers are never more than a few minutes from connecting
gates. An additional 25 gates are being constructed for future growth in a
$175 million expansion scheduled to be completed next year.

Two daily flights between Detroit and Rockford—a convenient alternative
to O’Hare International Airport—will be operated by Northwest Airlink
partner Pinnacle Airlines Corp.‘s Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ), which seats
up to 50 passengers. This will be the only regularly scheduled service at
Rockford by a major airline. Northwest and its Airlink partners last
served Rockford in June 2001 with turboprop aircraft.
In addition, two daily flights to Ithaca also commence May 2. The service
will be operated with Northwest Airlink partner Mesaba Airlines’ Saab 340
turboprop, seating up to 34 passengers. This will be the only service from
Ithaca to a Midwest hub and complements Northwest’s existing service to
Elmira and Binghamton, N.Y.

In addition to Rockford and Ithaca, Northwest and its Airlink partners
will begin service between Detroit and Latrobe, Pa. (April 4),
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa. (April 4), Charlottesville, Va. (April 9),
Bermuda (Saturday-only seasonal service beginning April 9) and
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada (daily seasonal service
effective July 1).
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