Alaska Airlines to Start Serving Hawaii

Alaska Airlines will operate Boeing 737-800s, each configured to carry 16 first-class passengers and 141 coach-class passengers, on its new services linking Seattle with Honolulu and Lihu'e as well as its new flight between Anchorage and Honolulu. Credit: Boeing Photo

Alaska Airlines is launching services from Seattle and Anchorage to Hawaii this fall.

The airline will begin year-round daily nonstop flights between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Honolulu on October 12 and on October 28 will start operating year-round daily nonstops between SeaTac and Lihu'e on the island of Kauai.

Although Hawaiian Air and Northwest Airlines already operate daily services from SeaTac to Honolulu, no other carrier operates nonstop flights from Seattle to the island of Kauai.

Alaska Airlines will also launch seasonal daily service between Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and Honolulu on December 9, operating the service to April 13, 2008. Hawaiian Air already flies this route but does so on a charter basis.

For the 2008-2009 season Alaska Airlines will begin its Anchorage-Honolulu service in October 2008 and operate it until April 2009, said spokeswoman Caroline Boren.

"Hawaii is the largest market out of Seattle and Anchorage that we didn't already serve," noted Gregg Saretsky, Alaska Airlines' executive vice president of flight and marketing.

Alaska Airlines will operate all three services with Boeing 737-800s. Each of the airline's 737-800s accommodates 16 first-class passengers and 141 economy-class passengers.

The carrier said its new Hawaii services would provide convenient connections to flights by Alaska Airlines and its regional airline sister carrier Horizon Air to and from cities throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Their combined network serves 92 cities in Alaska, the lower 48 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico.

Alaska Airlines is offering introductory one-way fares of $109 for Seattle-Honolulu flights, $149 for Seattle-Lihue flights and $159 for Anchorage-Honolulu flights. These prices do not include airport facility charges, federal segment taxes and U.S. security fees, which are charged at the time passengers make payment for their flights.

To obtain the introductory fares customers must purchase their tickets by June 2 and travel by December 13 from Seattle or by February 14, 2008, from Anchorage. Additional restrictions and blackout dates apply.

Alaska Airlines' first-class fares to Hawaii will be $300 less for each one-way flight segment than the first-class fares charged by its competitors on the routes, said Boren.

The carrier's Seattle-Honolulu flights will depart at 8:40 a.m. PST and arrive at 11:55 a.m. Hawaii time, which in early fall is three hours behind Pacific Standard Time. Return flights will depart at 1:25 p.m. Hawaii time and arrive at 10:10 p.m. PST. The westbound flight is scheduled to take 6 hours 15 minutes and the eastbound flight 5 hours 45 minutes. The distance between Seattle and Honolulu is 2,700 statute miles.

Seattle-Lihue flights will depart at 4:20 p.m. PST and arrive at 7:45 p.m. Hawaii time. Return flights will depart at 9:15 p.m. Hawaii time and arrive at 5:55 a.m. Pacific time. Elapsed time for the westbound flight will be 6 hours 25 minutes and for the eastbound flight 5 hours 40 minutes.

Anchorage-Honolulu flights will depart at 3:20 p.m. Alaska time (one hour ahead of Hawaii time) and arrive at 8:40 p.m. Hawaii time, for a total flight time of 6 hours 20 minutes. Return flights will depart at 10:10 p.m. Hawaii time and arrive at 5:30 a.m. Alaska time, the elapsed flight time on the nearly due-north flight again being 6 hours 20 minutes.

All flights will offer Alaska's Northern Bites meals-for-purchase service, which allows coach passengers to purchase a meal onboard for $5. 

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