Portland (Ore.) tries to land more international flights PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) =97 Just months after landing direct flights to Germany,= =20 Portland International Airport is competing with two other airports to be=20 the next U.S. destination for Mexicana Airlines. The Mexico City-based=20 airline is also considering service to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport= =20 and Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C. The=20 airline's decision is expected in February, said Janie Hansen, passenger=20 marketing manager for the Portland airport. If Portland is chosen, the=20 airline would likely fly a 120-seat plane from Portland to the airport's=20 hub in Guadalajara, then continue to Mexico City. The service would start=20 in the summer or fall with three flights a week, Hansen said. "This is the= =20 furthest we've gone with Mexicana in the number of years that they've been= =20 looking at the Portland market," Hansen said. Mexicana officials told Hansen last week that a committee is weighing the=20 profitability of a Portland-Guadalajara-Mexico City route against routes=20 tying to other U.S. cities. Two Mexicana officials visited Portland on Dec.= =20 11., meeting with state, city and business leaders. Gale Castillo,=20 executive director of the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, said the Mexicana= =20 service would be a hit with Mexican nationals living in Oregon and=20 businesses seeking export destinations. Guadalajara, the largest city in=20 Jalisco state, has been Portland's sister city for two decades. The=20 competition pits Portland against two much larger airports. Sea-Tac had a=20 passenger count of 27 million people in 2001 compared with 12.7 million at= =20 Portland. The Charlotte airport drew 23.2 million passengers. In October,=20 Lufthansa German Airlines announced it would launch service from Portland=20 to Frankfurt, Germany, in the spring. Portland and Seattle were competitors= =20 for that service. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.atlanticlng.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************