Alaska Airlines Adds New Hawaii Service From Oakland, Expands Seattle-Honolulu Flying and Announces Seattle-Houston and Seattle-
06 Maggio 2009 - 2:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Carrier makes strategic shift in capacity to match customer demand;
reduces Mexico flying and advances start of Portland-Maui service
SEATTLE, May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Airlines announced
today it will inaugurate four-times-weekly service between Oakland,
Calif., and Kahului, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, beginning Nov.
9, 2009, and thrice-weekly service between Oakland and Kona, on the
Big Island of Hawaii, starting Nov. 10, 2009. Additionally, the
airline will expand its Seattle-Honolulu schedule from one daily
flight to two, beginning July 2, 2009, and advance the start of its
Portland-Maui service to July 3, 2009, from Aug. 7, 2009. "Hawaii
has become a major market for Alaska Airlines in just a short time,
thanks to the loyalty of our customers and the great service
provided by our employees," said Steve Jarvis, vice president of
marketing, sales and customer experience. "We will have 59 flights
a week to the four major Hawaiian Islands, and we're offering low
fares and Alaska Airlines Vacations packages that make Hawaii
travel even more affordable." Alaska is offering introductory
one-way fares of $169 between Oakland-Maui, Oakland-Kona and
Portland-Maui, for tickets purchased by May 21, 2009. New
Seattle-Houston and Seattle-Atlanta nonstops Alaska also will
inaugurate nonstop daily service between Seattle and Houston,
beginning Sept. 23, 2009, and between Seattle and Atlanta, starting
Oct. 23, 2009. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members can earn double
miles on the new nonstop flights between Seattle and Houston,
through Nov. 23, 2009, and between Seattle and Atlanta, through
Dec. 23, 2009. "We are shifting capacity into markets where we are
seeing higher demand," said Andrew Harrison, Alaska's vice
president of planning and revenue management. "Houston and Atlanta
are two of the largest markets that we don't currently serve
nonstop from Seattle. With their strong business ties to the state
of Alaska and Pacific Northwest, these cities will be great
additions to our core route network." Reduction in Mexico flying
The airline also announced plans to reduce its summer and fall
flying to Mexico by 37 percent beginning July 2, 2009, through
fewer flight frequencies. Harrison said the airline is reducing
capacity in this market to match demand and reallocating it into
new markets that will bring additional revenue to the airline. "We
will continue to serve all our Mexico routes but will have fewer
flights until we see a turnaround in demand," said Harrison. The
schedule changes announced today will not affect Alaska's plan to
shrink capacity by 6 percent overall in 2009. Summary of new
flights Start date City pair Departure time Arrival time Day of
week July 2 Seattle-Honolulu 4:45 p.m. 7:45 p.m. 2nd daily July 3
Honolulu-Seattle 9 a.m. 5:45 p.m. 2nd daily July 3 Portland-Maui
9:50 a.m. 12:45 p.m. Wed, Fri, Sun* July 3 Maui-Portland 1:45 p.m.
10:15 p.m. Wed, Fri, Sun* Sept. 23 Seattle-Houston 7:45 a.m. 2:05
p.m. Daily Sept. 23 Houston-Seattle 4:30 p.m. 7:05 p.m. Daily Oct.
23 Seattle-Atlanta 9:10 a.m. 5:10 p.m. Daily Oct. 23
Atlanta-Seattle 6:10 p.m. 8:35 p.m. Daily Nov. 9 Oakland-Maui 7:45
a.m. 11:05 a.m. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat Nov. 9 Maui-Oakland 12:05 p.m.
7:10 p.m. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat Nov. 10 Oakland-Kona 7:45 a.m. 11:15
a.m. Tues, Thur, Sun Nov. 10 Kona-Oakland 12:15 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
Tues, Thur, Sun All times are based on local time zones. *Becomes
daily service starting Aug. 7, 2009 The new flights are available
today at alaskaair.com or by calling (800) ALASKAAIR (800-252-7522
or TTY/TDD line 800-392-0228). Alaska Airlines Vacations offers a
full line of complete vacations and air/car packages for travel to
Maui, the Big Island of Hawaii, Oahu and Kauai. Vacation packages
include air transportation, hotel accommodations, optional ground
transportation and tours. Alaska Airlines will operate the new
flights with Boeing 737-800 aircraft, accommodating 16 passengers
in first class and 141 in the main cabin. Flights will offer
Alaska's Northern Bites meals-for-purchase service, which allows
coach passengers to buy a meal onboard. Inflight service also will
include Alaska Airlines' digEplayer, a personal entertainment
system offering a variety of movies, television shows, music and
other features. Fare Rules: Fares must be purchased by 5/21/09 and
complete travel by 2/10/10 for Oakland-Maui and Oakland-Kona, and
by 10/31/09 for Portland-Maui. Blackout dates: 11/20/09 - 11/21/09,
11/25/09, 11/28/09 - 11/30/09, 12/18/09 - 12/21/09, 12/23/09,
12/26/09 - 12/28/09. Not included in the fares: Airport Passenger
Facility charges of up to $9 (amount depends on itinerary), U.S.
Federal Segment Tax of $3.60 per segment (takeoff and landing) and
U.S. Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement. All taxes and fees
shown are based on one-way travel and may be doubled if traveling
round trip. Tickets are nonrefundable, but can be changed for a $75
fee when changes are made online at alaskaair.com ($100 when made
through a reservation call center or ticket counter and $125 when
originally booked through a travel agent and changes are made
through a reservation call center or ticket counter) and any
applicable changes in fare. A ticket purchased at a Horizon Air or
Alaska Airlines airport location or through a reservation call
center will cost $15 more per person than the advertised fare.
Seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or all
days. All fares, taxes and fees are in U.S. dollars and are subject
to change without notice, and other restrictions apply. Passengers
traveling prior to 7/7/09 may check one bag for free. Effective for
travel on or after 7/7/09, a $15 charge will apply to the first
checked bag. A second bag may be checked for $25. Additional fees
apply to check more than two bags or overweight or oversized item.
See checked baggage policy at alaskaair.com for more details.
Double Miles: To earn double miles on Seattle-Houston and
Seattle-Atlanta flights, customers must register at alaskaair.com
before they travel. Registration will be available beginning May
27, 2009. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska
Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together serve more than 90 cities through
an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and
Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction
among Traditional Network Carriers (tie)" in the J.D. Power and
Associates 2008 North America Airline Satisfaction Study(SM). For
reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information,
visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at
alaskaair.com/newsroom. DATASOURCE: Alaska Airlines CONTACT: Bobbie
Egan, +1-206-392-5101, for Alaska Airlines Web Site:
http://www.alaskaair.com/
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