Northwest Airlines To Expand Detroit-Nagoya Service To Daily Flights

Northwest Airlines announced today that it will expand nonstop service between Detroit and Nagoya, Japan from four times weekly to daily flights effective April 1, 2001.

“Our Detroit-Nagoya flights have performed well since we started service in June, 1998,” said Philip Haan, vice president-international, sales and information services. “The route links two of the largest automobile manufacturing centers in the world. Daily flights will give business travelers added convenience and schedule options. In addition, our jumbo jets offer substantial cargo capacity to ship auto parts. ”

“This expansion will make Northwest the preeminent carrier between Nagoya and the United States,” said Jun Mokudai, vice president-Japan. “Northwest will offer more capacity with its daily Boeing 747-400 flights.”

Northwest offers convenient connections from points throughout the eastern section of the United States via its Detroit hub and operates the fastest service to Nagoya from the majority of North America. In addition, Northwest has tailored its Airlink regional airline schedules from important automotive cities in the Ohio Valley such as Lexington, Ky. to connect to its Nagoya service.

Nagoya is in the Chubu region of Japan which has a population of more than 18 million. Toyota, Honda and Yamaha have large manufacturing facilities in the area and there are numerous auto parts suppliers.

Northwest was the first airline to link North America to Asia over the North Pacific and has served Asia for more than 50 years. Northwest serves 15 major destinations in the Asia/Pacific region and operates nonstop service from eight U.S. gateways.

Northwest is the world’s fourth largest airline offering more than 2,600 daily departures with hubs in Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam. With its travel partners, Northwest serves more than 750 cities in nearly 120 countries on six continents. Northwest and partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines received Air Transport World magazine’s “Airline of the Year” award in 1997. Based on statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Northwest was the most on-time U.S. airline of the 1990s among the seven largest network carriers and is the 2000 recipient of Air Transport World’s “Airline Technology Management” award. Northwest’s WorldPerks frequent flyer program is the highest rated U.S.-based program reviewed by Inside Flyer Magazine, the leading authority on airline free travel programs, and in 1999 was named the most preferred frequent flyer program by the readers of Time magazine in Asia. WorldPerks received the special “Industry Impact Award” during Inside Flyer’s 12th Annual Freddie Awards. In 1999, Northwest’s nwa.com was chosen as best airline web site by zdNews.com and business 2.0 and was named one of the top 50 sites by Internet World Magazine.