Northwest Airlines has announced a new, non-stop flight from Portland to Amsterdam.
The Oregonian reports that the flight was added due to lobbying from large Portland-area companies (like Nike and others) who do business just outside of Amsterdam.
Readers of this blog however, know that the real reason for the new flight was so Portland bike advocates can more easily take fact-finding missions to our unofficial sister bike-city.
So, does anyone know someone at Northwest who might be interested in partnering up with me for a little trade? I’d be more than willing to help them spread the word in exchange for a little travel package… ;-).
Dank u zeer NWA en KLM!!!
Portland now will be a great way to reach Amsterdam…much nicer than having to layover in MN or Detroit or Newark.
As a 21 year customer NWA, I always fly NWA to Europe and Schiphol is THE best airport for bicyclists to enter Europe…big bike boxes for shipping…bike lanes leading to from the airport…fast 15 minute train service to the centraal city. Sounds a lot like PDX too!
All PDX needs now is a nice mechanics repair stand and basic tools with pump for bike air travelers to pack/unpack their bikes.
Hey NWA: How about a special service for this new route…free bike shipping (as 1 peice of luggage) sans box as a PDX-AMS sister city as bike cities promo? It would make a great ad for this route in both cities…and help Portland seek platinum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Schiphol_Airport
Whoops. That press release is for DFW – Amsterdam. this one is about PDX – Amsterdam.
wow this is great news. im a portlander who has lived (and is currently living) in amsterdam off and on for about a year and a half. come on over portland!
Todd, your ideas are great.
But I most point out that one of the wonderful things about visiting Amsterdam is being able to rent an Amsterbike… er… Dutch bike… and tool around town, Dutch Style, for only $6 a day or so (OK, maybe it\’s more like $12 a day with the current exchange rate). No need to go through all the hassle of bringing a bike from home all the way across the Atlantic! They\’ve already got plenty of bicycles for you to ride once you get to the Netherlands. 🙂