Alaska Airlines Announces New Hawaii and Mexico Flying; Horizon Air Adds San Jose-Los Angeles Service

SEATTLE, April 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air today announced expanded service to Hawaii and Mexico and new service between San Jose, Calif., and Los Angeles that will strengthen international connections with the airlines' alliance partners.

Alaska Airlines will inaugurate daily service between San Diego, Calif., and Kahului, Maui, beginning Oct. 1, and daily seasonal service between San Diego and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, starting Nov. 12, 2010. It will also begin seasonal flying between Portland, Ore., and Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii, four times a week starting Nov. 12. Additionally, it will add a second flight between Seattle and Kona that will operate thrice weekly from Nov. 11 to April 10, 2011.

These new flights are in addition to the new daily service between Portland and Honolulu the carrier announced last week.

"Hawaii and Mexico are among the most popular leisure destinations Alaska and Horizon serve," said Joe Sprague, Alaska's vice president of marketing. "This winter we will have more than 100 roundtrips 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 Airlines is offering introductory one-way fares of $159 on tickets purchased by May 4, 2010, for travel through Feb. 11, 2011, on all Hawaii flights from Portland and San Diego.

New San Jose-Los Angeles service

Horizon Air will add four daily roundtrip flights between San Jose, and Los Angeles starting Aug. 23, 2010. The new service is timed for convenient connections to domestic and international destinations on Alaska Airlines' alliance partners Air France, Air Pacific, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Korean Air, LAN and Qantas.

"With four roundtrip flights a day between San Jose and Los Angeles, our customers will benefit from more convenient international connections to Asia, Australia, Europe, Mexico, and Central and South America," said Andrew Harrison, Alaska's vice president of planning and revenue management.

Travelers can earn double Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles on the new flights between San Jose and Los Angeles through Nov. 23, 2010. To qualify, customers must register at alaskaair.com.

Flights are available for booking today at alaskaair.com or horizonair.com or by calling 1-800-ALASKAAIR (1-800-252-7522 or TTY/TDD line 1-800-392-0228). The new flights between San Diego and Puerto Vallarta will be available for purchase pending approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Mexico Director General of Civil Aviation.

The new Alaska flights will be operated with Boeing 737 aircraft. All flights between San Jose and Los Angeles will be operated with Horizon's Bombardier Q400 high-speed turboprop aircraft.

Note to news media: High quality broadcast footage can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/dmfojb or by contacting Alaska Airlines Media Relations.

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" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 and 2009 North America Airline Satisfaction Studies(SM). For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.

Fare rules: Tickets must be purchased by May 4, 2010, and travel completed by Feb. 11, 2011. Travel is permitted Monday through Thursday between Portland-Honolulu, Portland-Maui and San Diego-Maui. Travel between Portland-Kona is valid on Monday and Wednesday only. Blackout dates for travel to Hawaii are: Nov. 18-22 and Dec. 15-25, 2010. Blackout dates for travel from Hawaii are: Nov. 26-30, 2010, and Dec. 26, 2010, through Jan. 3, 2011. Travelers are responsible for the following taxes and fees, as applicable: Airport Passenger Facility charges of up to $9 (amount depends on itinerary), U.S. Federal Segment Tax of $3.70 per segment (takeoff and landing) and U.S. Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement. Some flights may be operated by or in conjunction with Horizon Air or an alliance partner.

Other important information: Seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or days. All fares, taxes and fees shown are based on one-way travel and may be doubled if traveling roundtrip. All taxes and fees shown are in U.S. dollars and are subject to change without notice. Other restrictions apply. Tickets purchased at an Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air airport location or through an Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air reservation call center will cost $15 more per person than the advertised fare. Tickets are nonrefundable. Changes made at alaskaair.com incur a $75 per person change fee and any difference in fare. Ticket changes made through an Alaska Airlines or Horizon Air reservation call center or airport ticket counter incur a $100 per person change fee and any difference in fare. Baggage fees of $15 for the first bag and $25 for the second bag apply. A $20 charge will apply for the first three checked bags for tickets purchased on or after May 1, for travel on or after June 16, 2010. Additional fees apply to check more than three bags or for overweight or oversized items. See checked baggage policy at alaskaair.com or horizonair.com for more details.

Terms and conditions for Double Miles: Registration is required in order to receive Double Miles. Double Miles is valid only on qualifying paid flights flown between Aug. 23 and Nov. 23, 2010. Double Miles is only valid on nonstop flights between San Jose and Los Angeles operated by Horizon Air. Flight miles must be credited to your Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account in order to earn Double Miles.

SOURCE Alaska Air Group