This is a rather wild rumor, but it's from a source that seems trustworthy for all I can tell, so I thought I share this with you:
Northwest is said to be mulling a move of its daily flight to Germany from Frankfurt to Cologne (CGN), which is located 100 miles north of Frankfurt in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city itself is much larger then Frankfurt, and both greater metropolitan areas are fairly comparable. Also, Cologne is the headquarters of Ford Europe and Ford Germany.
The rationale is supposedly that
Personally, I find it hard to believe that NWA would seriously consider giving up the coveted slots in FRA, given that until now they have served only the largest hub airports in Europe. On the other hand, these are very compelling reasons.
Northwest is said to be mulling a move of its daily flight to Germany from Frankfurt to Cologne (CGN), which is located 100 miles north of Frankfurt in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city itself is much larger then Frankfurt, and both greater metropolitan areas are fairly comparable. Also, Cologne is the headquarters of Ford Europe and Ford Germany.
The rationale is supposedly that
- NW does not have connecting traffic at FRA, so it does not really matter at which end of the Rhine valley the planes touch down.
- CGN is significantly cheaper then FRA in terms of landing and handling fees.
- Ford provides a large, steady flow of business pax, who are not happy having to ride a Fokker 50 to AMS for a connection to DTW.
- The airport has an underground train station served by bullet trains, which reach downtown Frankfurt in approx. 50 min., about the same time as a cab ride from FRA airport.
- There would be no immediate competition from other carriers.
- One third of of all O&D traffic at FRA is generated by North Rhine-Westphalia, and these folks would find it much more convenient to catch a flight in CGN.
Personally, I find it hard to believe that NWA would seriously consider giving up the coveted slots in FRA, given that until now they have served only the largest hub airports in Europe. On the other hand, these are very compelling reasons.