Atlanta’s gateway dreams

AtlantaÆs gateway dreams    With the launch of a single direct, nonstop flight between Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and Ecuador Thursday, officials in Atlanta revealed that they see the modest entry into the Latin America market was a sign of things to come.
   Officials in Atlanta said they hoped the new air service would prompt businesses in Ecuador to begin using Atlanta as a distribution point for international trade, according to an Associated Press report.
   'Once you have access to markets and a relationship, trade will come,' commented Jorge Fernandez, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce's vice president for economic development.
   Ecuadorian Vice President Alejandro Serrano said he thought the new service would position Atlanta as an alternative to Miami.
   'Even though Miami is what we see as the gateway to the U.S., we think we're going to begin to look at Atlanta like that,' Serrano said.
   The new Ecuador service is being offered by Delta.
   Robert Kennedy, the airport's director of business development, noted that a decade ago, less than 10 percent of the Atlanta airport's local passengers went to the Caribbean, Mexico, or South America. Now, 39 percent of them take trips to the region.