Alaska Airlines Adds New Hawaii Service From Oakland, Expands Seattle-Honolulu Flying and Announces Seattle-Houston and Seattle-Atlanta Service

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.

SOURCE Alaska Airlines