Alaska Airlines Announces New Service to Minneapolis and Hawaii

SEATTLE, May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Airlines today announced it will inaugurate service between Seattle and Minneapolis and Seattle and Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. The airline also announced it is expanding its seasonal service between Anchorage and Maui. The flights will be available for purchase starting May 22 at alaskaair.com or by calling (800) ALASKAAIR.

Alaska Airlines will offer year-round twice-daily flights between Seattle and Minneapolis starting Oct. 26, and year-round once-a-day service between Seattle and Kona beginning Nov. 17. Seasonal flights between Anchorage and Kahului on the island of Maui are increasing from twice to three times weekly from Oct. 31 to April 25, 2009. Service to all three destinations provides convenient connections from cities throughout the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Canada.

"With our new service between Seattle and Minneapolis, we now fly to one of the largest cities not previously served by Alaska Airlines," said Andrew Harrison, managing director of planning for Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. "In addition, our new service between Seattle and Kona expands our coverage to all four major Hawaiian islands."

Harrison said the new routes "are part of a broader effort to trim capacity from underperforming markets and redeploy it in places where customer demand is high." In conjunction with the new service to Minneapolis and Kona, Harrison outlined these other changes involving Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air:

    -- Beginning Sept. 7, Alaska Airlines will end nonstop service between
       Portland, Ore., and Orlando, Fla., and between San Francisco and
       Vancouver, B.C.
    -- In addition, Alaska Airlines will not return this winter to three
       Mexico routes it has flown seasonally in the past between San Francisco
       and Cancun, Mazatlan and Zihuatanejo. The carrier will continue to
       serve these destinations nonstop from Los Angeles, as well as operate a
       daily seasonal nonstop flight between Seattle and Cancun.
    -- Pending U.S. and Mexican government approval, Horizon Air will assume
       service previously flown by Alaska Airlines between Los Angeles and La
       Paz. Horizon will also assume Alaska Airlines' service between Los
       Angeles and Loreto, Mexico, starting Sept. 7, with four flights a week.
    -- Horizon Air will discontinue nonstop service between Spokane, Wash.,
       and Sacramento, Calif., effective Sept. 7. The carrier also will
       replace its twice-daily nonstop service between Spokane and Los Angeles
       with two daily same-plane, one-stop flights via Boise, Idaho.

To inaugurate its new service, Alaska Airlines is offering introductory one-way fares of $139 between Seattle and Minneapolis and $229 between Seattle and Kona. Customers must purchase their tickets by June 5, 2008, and travel by Feb. 12, 2009. Additional restrictions and blackout dates apply.

Alaska Airlines Vacations offers a full line of vacation packages for travel to the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as to Oahu, Kauai and Maui. Packages include air transportation, hotel accommodations, ground transportation and tours.

Alaska Airlines customers can earn double Mileage Plan miles on flights between Seattle and Minneapolis from Oct. 26 to Dec. 31, 2008. To receive the double miles, customers need to register at alaskaair.com, starting May 21.

Seattle-Minneapolis flights will depart at 6:50 a.m. and 6:40 p.m. Pacific time and arrive at 12:05 p.m. and 11:55 p.m. Central time, respectively. Return flights will depart at 7:40 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. Central time and arrive at 9:15 a.m. and 2:40 p.m. Pacific time, respectively.

Seattle-Kona flights will depart at 8:40 a.m. Pacific time and arrive at 1 p.m. Hawaii time. Return flights will depart at 2 p.m. Hawaii time and arrive at 9:40 p.m. Pacific time.

Alaska Airlines will operate the new flights with Boeing 737-800s, accommodating 16 passengers in first class and 141 in the main cabin. All flights will offer Alaska's Northern Bites meals-for-purchase service, which allows coach passengers to purchase a meal onboard for $5. Inflight service will also include Alaska Airlines' digEplayer, a personal entertainment system offering a variety of movies, television shows, music and other features. Complimentary in first class, digEplayers are available for $10 in coach.

Airfare prices listed do not include airport passenger facility charges of up to $9 (amount depends on itinerary), federal segment tax of $3.50 per segment (takeoff and landing) on itinerary, and a U.S. security fee of $2.50 per enplanement. Travel for introductory fares valid daily. Other airfare restrictions apply. Seats are limited and introductory fares may not be available on all flights or on all days. Blackout dates for introductory fares apply to travel to Kona Nov. 21-26 and Dec. 13-26, 2008, and from Kona Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 and Dec. 27, 2008, through Jan. 4, 2009. Blackout dates apply to travel to/from Minneapolis Nov. 26, Nov. 29 through Dec 1, Dec 18-22, Dec. 26-29, 2008, and Jan 2-4, 2009. Tickets are nonrefundable, but can be changed for a $50 change fee and any applicable changes in fare when changes are made online at alaskaair.com ($75 change fee when changes are made through our reservation call centers or ticket counters and $100 change fee when originally booked through a travel agent and changes are made through our reservation call centers or ticket counters). A ticket purchased at a Horizon Air or Alaska Airlines airport location or through one of our reservation call centers will cost $15 more per person than the advertised fare. All fares, taxes, and fees are in U.S. dollars and are subject to change without notice. See alaskaair.com for complete fare rules.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air together serve 93 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.