By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Delta pilot Capt. Harold Mobley (right) and copilot John Connelly wave the flag of the Netherlands along with the Stars and Stripes as they pull away from the gate Tuesday at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. The Cincinnati Enquirer/ERNEST COLEMAN

Delta ticket agents help passages at the gate for Flight 42 to Amsterdam on Tuesday at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Area business boosters were on board to promote Cincinnati.

HEBRON - As Delta Air Lines officially inaugurated its flight from Cincinnati to Amsterdam, local business officials had more than tulips and windmills on their minds.

Following the inauguration Tuesday, officials representing the Partnership for Greater Cincinnati/Cincinnati USA boarded Flight 42, a Boeing 767-300, to push the area in the Netherlands.

Having scheduled a meeting for just an hour after landing overseas, the group includes representatives from the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; Northern Kentucky's Tri-County Economic Development Corp.; Cinergy; and LaSalle Bank, a subsidiary of the Dutch bank ABN Amro.

"Clearly the introduction of a direct flight can create exciting business opportunities if you take advantage of it," said Nick Vehr, vice president for economic development for the Cincinnati chamber. "And that's what we're attempting to do."

The group, which sent 2,000 invitations to Dutch businesses for a meeting to pitch Cincinnati, need look no further than Walton-based A-CARB. The company, a subsidiary of the French firm Snecma that makes airplane brakes, located in Northern Kentucky in 1998.

Northern Kentucky economic development officials say the company chose this area six years ago over Charlotte, N.C.

A-CARB executive vice president and general manager Karen Bomba said the direct air service between Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and Paris was a major factor.

"The other city actually had pulled its direct flight," said Bomba, whose company employs 90 workers and is looking to hire more. "Now, we have about five people fly over there a month, including myself; and I can tell you, it can make a difference in staying an extra night or not."

The flight to Amsterdam actually started Saturday, along with the reintroduction of a daily nonstop to Rome. Delta officials said the two new flights give Cincinnati more direct access to Europe than United Airlines customers have out of that airline's hub in Chicago.

"It's that ease of access that makes this area so saleable," said Tri-Ed president Danny Fore.

Fore and Vehr said they did not anticipate that the high-fare issue that many travelers to and from Cincinnati face would be a factor for international flights. Cincinnati travelers pay 56 percent more on average than the rest of the country for similar trips, partially because Delta operates its second-largest hub here and faces little competition.

"When it comes to these flights, you're only talking about a minimal difference with other cities for international," Vehr said. "People are more looking for convenience and efficiency."

Delta's senior vice president for network and revenue management, Subodh Karnik, said Tuesday that the flight also makes sense for the financially struggling airline.

He said that all of the Atlanta-based carrier's flights across the Atlantic are profitable, although he would not give specifics.

"You wouldn't want me to stop doing the things that make money," said Karnik when asked about the wisdom of expanding capacity when the airline lost $383 million in the first quarter. "We make money on the Atlantic, and the now five Cincinnati flights we have are some of the highest-performing we have."

Delta also flies to Paris, Frankfurt and London from here.

"I really think that part of it is the convenience of the airport here," Karnik said. "People fly through Chicago or JFK or the old Detroit and then through here and get hooked on how easy it is here."

Karnik said the Amsterdam flight would add connectivity to Delta as a whole and Cincinnati specifically, given the expansive international network operated by Dutch carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

That airline on Tuesday completed a merger with Air France, which has close ties with Delta. Karnik said KLM could join SkyTeam, a major alliance of international airlines including Air France and Delta, as soon as this fall.

Bookings for the Amsterdam flight are meeting projections, while the Rome flight "is going crazy, well beyond what we thought, especially with the leisure season coming up."

He said that Amsterdam might be more of a business destination, which would allow the airline to get more revenue. Several Ohio companies with strong Dutch businesses, such as Procter & Gamble, are expected to use the flights extensively, Karnik said.

"Given our success on international and the fact that Amsterdam and Rome are very popular destinations, this just made perfect sense to take this step," he said.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com