A flight from Salt Lake City to Paris is on Delta's drawing board and the State of Utah is ready to support it. The question is, will travelers use the service?
When it comes to areas such as the airline industry, I like to think I'm a realist. I mean, I know that a Nice-Nezperce (that'd be from my adopted hometown in France to my actual hometown in North Central Idaho, which, incidentally only has an airport for cropdusters) direct flight is never going to take place. That said, Delta is looking into the possibility of a Salt Lake-Paris flight. Yowza, now that would be cool ... for me. But then I got to thinking: How many people would really take advantage of this service?
Apparently, some of those folks in Utah think it's a particularly good idea and to put their money where their mouths are, they're looking to kick in $650,000 to promote the flight. That's right: Between the Utah Board of Tourism Development, the Salt Lake City Airport Authority and the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, more than half a million dollars would be channeled to promote the Salt Lake-Paris flight.
They want everyone from Reno to Spokane to know that there's a new way to get, not only to Paris, but to Budapest, Berlin and Barcelona. And vice versa. They're trying to lure those good Hungarians into a ski trip to Park City.
A Delta spokeswoman told The Salt Lake Tribune that the funding is "a good start," but Delta's still mulling the situation. Yes, I may have gotten excited about nothing. But it makes one think that Nice-Nezperce flight isn't all that far off ... once they build a commercial airport in Nezperce, that is.
