Northwest files application to fly to Iraq EAGAN, Minn. (AP) =97 Northwest Airlines has asked the U.S. Department of=20 Transportation for permission to begin flying from Detroit to Iraq, with a= =20 stop in Amsterdam. Northwest spokesman Bill Mellon said Thursday that, if=20 approved, the frequency of the flights would depend on demand. Northwest=20 would serve the route with DC-10 aircraft, he said. KLM Royal Dutch=20 Airlines, Northwest's alliance partner, also has applied for permission to= =20 fly into Baghdad, Mellon said. If both carriers are granted permission, he= =20 said Northwest and KLM would discuss how to best serve the market.=20 Northwest anticipates there will be public interest in flights to Baghdad=20 now that the fighting has, for the most part, ended, he said. U.S. carriers= =20 are prohibited from providing commercial air service to Iraq. Northwest=20 said it was filing its application now in anticipation that restrictions=20 will be lifted "once the country is sufficiently stabilized." Baghdad is=20 one of the few major cities in the Middle East that Northwest and KLM do=20 not jointly serve, "So for our market development, it seemed like a logical= =20 request to add Baghdad to the Northwest-KLM route system," Mellon said.=20 Mellon said he could not predict when the DOT might decide on the request.= =20 "They'll wait to see if another (major) U.S. airline also applies and then= =20 make the decision based on the applications they receive," he said. World Airways Inc. and North American Airlines Inc. also have filed=20 applications seeking authority to provide service to Iraq. *************************************************** 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.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************