Northwest Asks to Delay Seattle-Beijing Service

Northwest Airlines has told the U.S. Department of Transportation that it wants to delay its planned service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Beijing, China, from March 2009 to March 2010. Northwest is seeking approval to delay the route’s startup date without losing its rights to the route.

Bookings between the U.S. and China have dropped by almost a third in the past year, according to the airline. Northwest also wants to delay service between Beijing and Detroit by several months as well.

Last week, Delta said it would delay by a year the start of its planned route between Raleigh-Durham (N.C.) Airport and Paris. The announcement comes a month after Northwest said it will drop its Seattle-to-London nonstop flight in 2009, less than six months after inaugurating the service.