Alaska Airlines to start non-stop flights between Portland and Maui, between Seattle and Austin

Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, Washington, the United States, has announced that it will start a new, non-stop flight from Portland in Oregon to the island of Maui in Hawaii three days a week from August 7, 2009.

The airline has been flying to the Hawaiian islands from October 2007, operating daily flights from Seattle to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island in Hawaii, Alaska Airlines said in a statement.

The new service from Portland to Maui will depart from Portland at 9:50 a.m. Pacific time Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and arrive at Kahului Airport in Hawaii at 12:45 p.m. Hawaii time.

The return flight will leave from Maui at 1:45 p.m. Hawaii time on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and arrive at 10:15 p.m. Pacific time.

Alaska Airlines is offering an introductory fare of $169 one way on the Portland to Maui route for tickets bought by February 12, 2009, and travel from August 7, 2009, through December 13, 2009, on select days of the week.
In the statement, Steve Jarvis, vice-president (marketing) of Alaska Airlines, said that the company was “delighted to offer our customers in Oregon non-stop service from Portland to Maui.”

Alaska Airlines also announced that it would upgrade its flights from Alaska to Hawaii to be year-round.

The airline is also offering new, daily non-stop flight between Seattle in Washington and Austin, the capital of Texas, from August 2009. Thus, Alaska Airlines will become the first new carrier at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, located 5 miles south-east of the central business district of Austin, since Viva Aerobus, a Mexico-based low-fare discount carrier, started service in 2008.

According to the statement from Alaska Airlines, the new flights flight between Seattle and Austin would also fill a gap left by American Airlines, which had stopped flying on the same non-stop route in September 2008 as a result of the exorbitant prices of aviation turbine fuel.

Tickets for the Seattle-Austin flight – which will last about four hours – will cost $224 each way. Alaska Airlines said it was considering offering discounted prices on the new route.

Liz Phipps, networking planning director for Alaska Airlines, was quoted by the US media as saying that the airline, by starting new flights flight between Seattle and Austin, had “decided to tap into a new market while cutting costs by trimming routes along the West Coast.”

The Seattle-Austin would also offer business travellers and leisure travellers a connecting point to places such as Vancouver and Alaska, Liz Phipps added.
The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at present provides non-stop service to 31 destinations outside Texas.

Tickets for the new flights are currently available for purchase from Alaska Airlines’ website or through its telephone service.