February 4, 2006: Northwest Airlines will commence a second daily non-stop flight from Detroit to Frankfurt to cater to an expected increase in passengers during the summer season. The additional flight would be operated from May 7, 2007, through October 27, 2007, subject to slot approval from Airport Co-ordination Germany.

"A second Detroit-Frankfurt flight will offer greater flexibility and convenience to customers and the additional frequency would be serviced using a Boeing 757-200 aircraft," said Phil Haan, executive vice president (international, alliances and information technology) and chairman of NWA Cargo.

The new service is part of the carrier's trans-Atlantic expansion plans that is being formulated in co-operation with joint venture partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

The partners, Northwest and KLM serve 11 cities throughout Germany and the carriers operate with Amsterdam as hub. The other cities that the carriers have services to include Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Munich, Munster-Osnabruck, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

Northwest Airlines has planned an array of services on trans-Atlantic route, including a service between Detroit-Brussels that is slated to begin operations from June 15. The other services that are planned by the carrier on the route are Hartford, Connecticut to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, starting July 1 and Detroit and Boston to Amsterdam, beginning July 2007.

The carrier will operate Boeing 757-200 aircraft that are being fitted with winglets that result in improved fuel efficiency and extended range. The operator is also making several improvements to the fleet dedicated to this new service to provide customers with a comfortable travel experience.

The aircraft's business class cabin will be configured with 16 new seats in a two-aisle two-arrangement format. The world business class seat will provide 1.5 metres of personal space. The seat will have many features including a four-way movable headrest, a laptop power port, snake reading light, extendable footrest and lumbar support among others.

World business class customers will be provided with a portable in-flight entertainment system that includes a wide variety of movies, short-subject videos, music programmes, compact discs of music and games.

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

Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance, and along with its travel partners the carrier serves over 900 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents.

Meanwhile, Northwest Airlines has appealed to the US Department of Transportation to reconsider its decision to award United Airlines a non-stop daily route between Washington, DC, and Beijing, China.

The carrier urged the agency to award Northwest a non-stop route between Detroit and Shanghai. The airline argued that it made more economic sense due to the large number of Michigan companies, especially in the automotive industry, that have ties to the Shanghai region.

Earlier this month, US Department of Transportation had temporarily awarded United Airlines the daily route to China, rejecting proposals by Northwest, American and Continental airlines.