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Northwest Airlines planning service to Bangalore


Minneapolis, Feb 22 : Northwest Airlines (NWA) has filed a request with the US Department of Transportation for broad authority to serve India, the airline has announced.

The airline intends to introduce service from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport to Bangalore, India, (via Amsterdam) beginning October, subject to government approval.

"Northwest looks forward to the final signing of the Open Skies Agreement between the US and Indian governments," said Phil Haan, Northwest executive vice president of international, alliances, and information technology.

The Open Skies Agreement, aimed to liberalise air travel between the two countries, is expected to be signed by India and the US in the next few weeks.

India's Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel visited Washington last month to meet Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta to finalise details of the agreement.

"The global network that Northwest offers customers through its partnerships with SkyTeam member airlines would only be enhanced by additional service to India," said Haan, who is also chairman, NWA Cargo.

Northwest, together with its joint venture partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, has provided service to India since October 1997.

It currently offers two daily flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Mumbai, via Amsterdam. Northwest/KLM also offers daily service from Amsterdam to New Delhi.

"Northwest customers in more than 180 US cities can take advantage of the airline's India service with convenient domestic connections at the airline's hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Memphis to Amsterdam," the airline said.

"Convenient connections to India also are available through Northwest gateway cities including New York, San Francisco and Seattle," it said.

Northwest is the world's fourth largest airline with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam and about 1,500 daily departures.

Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 900 cities in over 160 countries.