Northwest Airlines' Nagoya, Japan Flights Now Operating From New 'Centrair' Airport First Northwest Flights Utilized Central Japan International Airport Feb. 17 NAGOYA, Japan, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northwest Airlines today announced that its flights to and from Nagoya are now operating from the new Central Japan International Airport, known as "Centrair." Northwest, which operates more flights at Nagoya than any other U.S. airline, offers daily service between Nagoya and four destinations including its WorldGateway hub at Detroit, Manila, Philippines and Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. The airline also offers service between Nagoya and its Tokyo hub, providing convenient single connections to eight top business and leisure destinations in the U.S. including Detroit, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York (JFK), Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Seattle. The first Northwest departure from Centrair, Japan's third largest international airport, was flight 78 to Tokyo, scheduled at 12:05 p.m. The first Northwest arrival into Centrair was flight 78 from Saipan, scheduled at 11:05 a.m. The flights operated ontime. "Northwest was the only U.S. airline with service to the mainland to introduce its customers to the new Central Japan International Airport on its first day of operations," said Phil Haan, executive vice president of international, alliances and information technology and chairman of NWA Cargo. "Northwest's presence at the opening of the new Centrair facility is another milestone in our 13-year history of serving Nagoya and 57-year history of serving Japan." The new Centrair airport's terminal has twice the number of gates than the airport it replaces, allowing all Northwest customers to board and deplane through loading bridges versus outdoor boarding stairs. Centrair also has more check-in capacity and additional checkpoints with the latest security technology. Northwest customers departing from Nagoya can check-in via the Internet at http://www.nwa.com/jp , at one of the airline's self-service check-in kiosks in the lobby at island "E," or at the ticket counter. Once check-in is complete, members of Northwest's WorldClubs airport lounge program, or customers flying World Business Class, can visit the Japan Airlines' Sakura Lounge located next to gate 18 prior to their departure. Travel time from the new airport to Nagoya is 30-40 minutes, comparable to the travel time to and from the previous airport. Centrair is accessible via the Tomei and Meishin expressways, the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train or the Meitetsu rail line, as well as via taxis and airport limousine services. NORTHWEST OFFERS UNMATCHED SERVICE BETWEEN THE U.S. AND NAGOYA Northwest, the only American airline currently offering service between Nagoya and the U.S. mainland, offers service unmatched by any other U.S. carrier: -- The lie-flat World Business Class seat. Northwest is the only U.S. airline to offer a business class seat that can recline up to 176 degrees, as well as a number of comforts and features not found on any of the competing business class products offered by other U.S. airlines. Northwest's new World Business Class seat is offered on every one of its Detroit-Nagoya flights. -- Convenient, uncongested hub airports. Northwest offers nonstop service from Nagoya to the airline's uncongested and hassle-free WorldGateway at Detroit hub. WorldGateway provides customers with easier connections than competing hub airports, with all international and domestic flights in one single terminal, boarding through climate- controlled loading bridges no matter what type of aircraft is being flown, and ample runway and gate capacity for better schedule reliability. -- Customer service technology. Northwest offers the industry's most developed self-service program, with more airport self-service check- in kiosks in more airports than any other airline, currently numbering 1,057 kiosks in 216 airports, including airports throughout its Asia/Pacific network such as Nagoya. -- The most capacity to Nagoya. Northwest is the only U.S. airline to serve Nagoya with the Boeing 747-400, which Northwest configures with 403 seats. In addition, its daily service from Nagoya to its Tokyo hub offers single connections to eight top U.S. business and leisure destinations. -- Experience. Northwest has been serving Japan longer than any other U.S. airline. Northwest's first scheduled passenger service to Japan began in 1947 and its first service to Nagoya began in 1992. NORTHWEST SERVES MORE OF ASIA, MOST SERVICE TO JAPAN Northwest offers service to more destinations in Asia, more flights between the U.S. and Japan, and more flights within Asia than any other U.S. airline. The airline operates a hub from Tokyo's Narita Airport that connects the U.S. cities of Detroit, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York (JFK), Portland, San Francisco and Seattle to key destinations including Bangkok, Thailand; Beijing; Busan, South Korea; Guam; Guangzhou, China; Hong Kong; Manila; Nagoya; Saipan; Seoul, South Korea; Shanghai, China and Singapore. Northwest also offers nonstop service from Osaka, Japan to Detroit and Taipei, Taiwan, and from Nagoya to Detroit, Manila, and Saipan. Northwest Airlines is the world's fourth largest airline with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and approximately 1,500 daily departures. Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers customers one of the world's most extensive global networks. Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 900 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents. A 2004 J.D. Power and Associates study of airports ranked Minneapolis/St. Paul, one of Northwest's largest hubs, fourth among large domestic airports in overall customer satisfaction. DATASOURCE: Northwest Airlines CONTACT: Northwest Media Relations, +1-612-726-2331 Web site: http://www.nwa.com/ http://www.nwa.com/jp

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