Alaska Airlines to increase summer flying in 2012 from Portland

The carrier will begin flying between Portland and Bozeman, Mont., and is resuming seasonal service from Portland International Airport to Missoula and Billings, Mont. Alaska is also launching new seasonal service from Portland to Santa Barbara and will resume its summer flights to Bellingham. All service will begin June 4 or 5 and operate through August 25, 2012. "These new routes give our customers additional options to access some of the most popular summer markets out of Portland," said Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines' vice president of marketing. "With these low introductory fares, summer travel between these cities and Portland has never been more affordable." Alaska's sister carrier, Horizon Air, will operate the Portland flights to Bellingham, Bozeman, Billings and Missoula with 76-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops. SkyWest Airlines will operate the Portland-Santa Barbara flights for Alaska Airlines using 70-seat Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jets.