"We believe long-haul traffic will continue to grow at around 7 percent per annum," Tony Ryan, GPA's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

It was extended in stages from 1952, reaching its current length in 1981 to attract long-haul international traffic.

The South Island Main Trunk connected the major centres to the branch lines rather than handling long-haul traffic.

It provided for new subways to be utilized for long-haul traffic, coordinated with surface street feeder and distributor routes within the Central Area.

The through line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh opened for traffic in February 1854, and indeed made Philadelphia a major outlet for long-haul traffic from the west.

Where possible, long-haul traffic was transferred to former C&NW routes, and large sections of the former M&StL were abandoned in the 1960s and 1970s.

Malpensa, which carries long-haul international traffic, can become badly congested.

Aerospatiale officials said the worldwide growth in long-haul traffic demonstrated a rising need for a new generation of economical supersonic transports.

The freeway was designed to solve a longstanding traffic issue in Eugene, the inadequacy of West 11th Avenue (a neighborhood arterial) to handle long-haul and commuter traffic.

Joining the two bigger carriers in the contest for long-haul traffic will be Wardair, a privately owned airline founded by a former airline pilot, Max Ward.