From Deseret News archives:
Nonstop: Salt Lake to Paris?
Airport and Delta officials say flight is possible next summer
Delta Air Lines and officials from Salt Lake City International Airport have been talking for years about such a flight, and the airport's executive director, Roy Williams, now says he has his fingers crossed for an announcement in the coming months and flights starting in summer 2007.
Williams said the most likely flight would be to Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport, though there also has been talk of flying to London's Heathrow.
The optimism isn't just coming from Williams. Delta officials agree it's possible.
"We would like to have it there in the summer, but the window in terms of pulling that off is tight," Delta spokesman Anthony Black said. He said plans would need to be worked out in the next couple of months.
Black said the key to finalizing plans for the trans-Atlantic flight will be cooperation between the airline and local officials.
"We're not going to be able to accomplish this without the help of the city," he said. "The partnership is the important thing."
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s economic development adviser, Chris Roybal, said his office has been studying the business and tourism demand for a nonstop flight to Europe and hopes to help Delta evaluate whether it would be profitable.
Joseph Wirthlin Jr. of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Materials Management Department said church officials also have been working with Huntsman's office to try to make such a flight a reality. Wirthlin said the nonstop flights would increase travel options for church missionaries and officials.
Williams believes Salt Lake City would be an optimal hub for international flights because the skiing industry would keep visitors coming even after the summer travel period. And it's not just Utahns hoping to visit Europe or Europeans coming here that the flight would benefit, he said.
"We're not just interested in Paris-to-Salt Lake customers," Williams said. "We're interested in Budapest-to-Eugene customers."
Both he and Black see Salt Lake as a prime location for West Coast travelers headed to Europe or other international destinations, such as in Asia or Africa, that are served by the Paris airport.
"Salt Lake is in a unique position as a directional hub," Black said.
Williams sees another benefit in a direct flight to Paris. "The reason we want the Europe service," he said, "is that it cements the future of the Delta hub here in Salt Lake."
Black said that if plans don't come together in time for a launch in 2007, that's not the end of it: Delta plans a direct-to-Europe flight from Salt Lake eventually, if not immediately.
E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com
Comments
- Vietnam vet finally gets Purple Heart 1:35 p.m.
- Grad rates between blacks, whites 1:25 p.m.
- Cautiously optimistic Bernanke 1:22 p.m.
- TCU's BCS game missing something 1:18 p.m.
- Snowstorm sweeps across West 1:17 p.m.
- Pilots blame air traffic controllers 12:55 p.m.
- Senate confronts abortion in debate 12:46 p.m.
- 2 bombs kill 34 in Lahore 12:41 p.m.
- U.N. climate conference opens 12:29 p.m.
- Messy Monday morning commute 12:28 p.m.
- Letters: Liberal because LDS
268 - Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
244 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
190 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
188 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
179 - N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage
135 - Cougars going back to Vegas
128 - George lost in rivalry hatefest
117 - Utah/BYU rivalry can be more civil
99 - Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
98
Amazon.com, Target.com, Sears.com, Walmart.com, Kmart.com and...
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Having a daughter myself, I really wouldn't want to be in Elizabeth's mom...
I thought I would try to get this report out as a storm lashes Northern...
I love wearing fur, whether real or faux. It's WARM! If I could afford to, I...
What "Nice Ad!" stated is true. The article does not go into the negatives of...
So glad I don't have TV anymore. What rubbish. People need to get out a...
Utah fans like to use excuses like "oh, but we were rebuilding that year" for...
It would be more informative to have raw numbers, rather than percentages of...
Did those birds every return to Scotland early in the past 5000, 10,000, or...
I am sorry to hear that Julius passed away. Though some may feel that they...
they should quit letting lawyers getting rich & throw him in jail where he...


You can be the first to comment on this story.