Northwest Chicagoland Regional Airport Eyes Central Europe

October 27, 2003

Airport Eyes Central Europe
Rep. Don Manzullo announces today that Greater Rockford is pursuing an
international airline.
Rockford Register Star, IL

Weekly nonstop flights from Rockford to a country in central Europe are
being pursued by Rockford’s Northwest Chicagoland Regional Airport and
U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan.

Neither Manzullo nor airport Director Bob O’Brien would give the name of
the country or airline. Manzullo will reveal that information this morning
at a meeting of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

One country in central Europe is Hungary, whose capital, Budapest, is a
key air hub. Malev, the Hungarian airline, flies to 39 destinations in
Europe, north Africa and west Asia.

Malev also flies to two North American destinations, Toronto and New York
City.

According to an Oct. 20 report from MTI-ECONEWS, Malev’s passenger traffic
grew 17 percent from September 2002 through August, compared with an
industry average of 2.2 percent.

Malev flies Boeing 767-200s and several versions of the Boeing 737.

“The discussion started a few weeks ago among officials of both
governments, the Rockford airport and a foreign flag carrier,” said Rich
Carter, Manzullo’s spokesman.

“This all came about be-cause the congressman was meeting with the
ambassador from this European country, and they started talking about
tourism between our two countries, and they just kept talking about it,
and before you know it they were talking about flights,” Carter said.

The airline in question does not fly to Chicago, Carter said.

Currently, the only passenger service from Rockford is provided by
TransMeridian Airlines, which flies to Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.

O’Brien said the proposed flights would be weekly “to a central European
country.” O’Brien said he will go to Washington, D.C., in the next few
weeks to meet with Manzullo, the ambassador of the European country and
the CEO of the airline to discuss the possible venture.

The mystery airline used to fly daily to Chicago’s O’Hare International
Airport, O’Brien said, but traffic didn’t warrant daily service.

“They still have interest in serving the Midwest. Weekly service could be
a big hit out of Rockford,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien said the airline flies into a key European air hub with connecting
flights to dozens of cities. To receive flights from foreign lands,
Rockford’s airport will have to have a customs inspection station. It
doesn’t have one now.

“If we can get a commitment from this international airline to do once- or
twice-weekly service, we would hope that our congressman would be able to
help get the customs folks to come up here from Chicago,” O’Brien said.

The Rockford airport also is meeting with officials of a Canadian low-fare
carrier interested in the possibility of flying from Rockford to Toronto.

If service to Europe or Canada pans out, the local airport would have to
consider another name change.

Legally, it’s still the same old Greater Rockford Airport. But to snag
customers from the Chicago suburbs, the airport is doing business as
Northwest Chi-cagoland Regional. If international flights begin, it might
become Northwest Chicagoland International Airport.


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