Minneapolis tops Detroit in Northwest Airlines flights MINNEAPOLIS (AP) =97 More planes took off and landed at Minneapolis-St. Paul= =20 International Airport last year than at the newly expanded Detroit airport,= =20 but Detroit Metropolitan Airport still held the lead in total passengers. A= =20 new report from Metropolitan Airports Commission compared the two airports.= =20 The annual report is significant because Northwest Airlines uses both=20 airports as major hubs, and some MAC members and legislators have worried=20 about potential shifts of flights and jobs from MSP to=20 Detroit. Eagan-based Northwest built the new Midfield terminal in Detroit= =20 and has said it would take advantage of that metropolitan area's larger=20 population base and Eastern time zone to augment its flight schedule. The=20 Detroit metro area has about 4.5 million people, compared with about 3=20 million in the Twin Cities area. Northwest's expansion in Detroit increased= =20 the airport's gates to 147, compared with 120 at MSP. Detroit also offers=20 more parking spaces =97 24,500 to 21,100 at MSP. But in 2002, MSP reported 507,669 takeoffs and landings, up 1.2 percent=20 from a year earlier, while Detroit reported 487,875, a decline of 6.5=20 percent. Northwest operations declined 0.8 percent at MSP and 3.4 percent=20 in Detroit. Both airports' figures were significantly lower than their=20 totals in 2000. Nigel Finney, the MAC's deputy executive director, said the comparison=20 relies on a projection of Detroit's activity based on the first half of=20 2002 because year-end figures were not available.As for nonstop flights,=20 MSP offered service to 119 destinations =97 sixth-highest in the country =97= =20 compared with 113 in Detroit, which ranked eighth, according to the MAC=20 report. MSP led in domestic nonstop markets =97 104 to 95, while Detroit had= =20 the edge in nonstop international destinations =97 18 to 15.Northwest opened= =20 its new Detroit terminal in February 2002. A year earlier, top airline=20 officials had said that the expanded quarters could enable Northwest to=20 significantly expand its international connecting flights, perhaps shifting= =20 some from the Twin Cities. They also had said that Northwest's growth in=20 the Twin Cities could be slower after Detroit's opening. Northwest=20 spokeswoman Mary Stanik said Thursday that the airline "remains committed=20 to growing traffic and demand" at both its Detroit and Twin Cities hubs and= =20 that its schedules at each airport are adjusted according to consumer= demand. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx 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.tha.gov.tt/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************