Northwest Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Receive the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals' 2007 "ASAP Individual Alliance Excellence Award".

Airlines Honored for Developing and Utilizing Best Practices in Alliance Management

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP) today named the Northwest Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines transatlantic joint venture as recipient of its global 2007 ASAP Individual Alliance Excellence Award. The awards recognize and celebrate companies that have achieved dramatic success in their alliances and alliance programs.

Recipients of the Individual Alliance Excellence Award are judged by the ASAP Awards Committee consisting of leading academics, analysts, thought leaders and consultants who have extensive experience with and insight into strategic alliances.

The judges determined that Northwest/KLM have demonstrated true commitment to advancing and sharing alliance management practices in their specific relationship, resulting in tangible business results through alliance innovation and implementation.

"Not only was the Northwest/KLM alliance the first major airline alliance in the world, ours is the most deeply integrated," said Phil Haan, executive vice president - international, alliances and information technology and chairman of NWA Cargo. "The Northwest/KLM alliance includes coordination of schedules, prices and capacity to provide the ultimate in passenger convenience while creating substantial financial benefits for both airlines. Prior to the implementation of the alliance, travelers would often be forced to change aircraft and airlines multiple times, recheck luggage, and keep track of several tickets in order to reach their final destination. Now, a flight from Des Moines to Cairo is as simple as one ticket, a single luggage check-in, and an easy connection through a Northwest/KLM hub."

"Since the start of our cooperation in 1989, KLM and Northwest Airlines have received many awards and other recognitions from within the airline industry and - more importantly - from our customers," said Hans de Roos, senior vice president of Alliances at KLM. "We feel very honored to receive this recognition from strategic alliance professionals in other businesses."

"ASAP recognizes the unique governance structure of the NWA/KLM alliance. By honing its decision-making and communication structure over time, the companies have been able to cope with and exploit the dynamics of the airline industry for more than 17 years," said Nick Palmer, a Partner with Accenture Ltd. and chairman of the ASAP Awards Committee. "The companies have managed this complex, highly interdependent relationship successfully. They have built on successes and setbacks to materially improve their position. In addition, the alliance has helped shape competition in the airline industry in general. It has broken ground for the other airline alliances that have followed its lead, moving airlines toward alliance-based competition."

According to ASAP judges, award recipients are companies that are exemplary -serving as models of effective alliance management; innovative - advancing the state of the art of alliance management; high-impact - achieving major business success through alliances management; and open - willing to share experiences and best practices with other ASAP members and with the larger alliance professional community.

The awards will be presented tonight (Thursday) as part of the ASAP 2007 Alliance Summit, held at the Westin Airport Hotel in San Francisco.

About Northwest Airlines, Inc.

Northwest Airlines is one of the world's largest airlines with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and approximately 1,400 daily departures. Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers customers one of the world's most extensive global networks. Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 900 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents.

About KLM

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is a subsidiary of Air France-KLM. KLM is the oldest carrier in the world still operating under its original name. Air France-KLM is France's and the Netherlands' main air carrier. Air France took over KLM in May 2004, resulting in the creation of Air France-KLM. Air France-KLM is the largest airline company in the world in terms of operating revenues, and the third largest in the world (largest in Europe) in terms of revenue-passenger-kilometers.

About the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals

Founded in 1999, ASAP is the leading global professional association dedicated to alliance formation and practice. It provides a forum to exchange partner/alliance best practices, resources, and opportunities and offers products that enable its 1,800 members to harness alliances as growth engines to drive corporate performance. www.strategic-alliances.org Tel: Kathryn Doran, 781-972-1340