Alaska Airlines Inaugurates Sacramento-Maui Service

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Airlines today will launch daily service between Sacramento, Calif., and Kahului, Maui. To mark the occasion, passengers will board the "Follow Apolo to Hawaii" plane, a specially-themed Boeing 737-800 highlighting the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a Maui vacation for two with the celebrated short-track speed skater.

"Customers now will be able to enjoy Alaska's unique brand of service and earn Mileage Plan miles whether they're booking a flight or a complete vacation package to the beautiful islands of Hawaii," said Joe Sprague, Alaska's vice president of marketing. "We invite travelers to enjoy Maui's tropical beaches this summer by entering to win a tropical Hawaiian vacation with Apolo at followapolo.com."

Participants can register for the "Follow Apolo to Hawaii" sweepstakes, through April 15, at www.followapolo.com. They can earn up to 33 additional entries by using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to share the opportunity with friends who also register. They can also earn five entries by providing their Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan number, joining Mileage Plan, or signing up to receive the Mileage Plan newsletter.

Five sweepstakes winners and their guests will join Ohno in June for a Hawaiian vacation, including roundtrip tickets to Maui on Alaska Airlines, a private luau with Ohno and luxury accommodations for four nights and five days at the Grand Wailea in Maui.

Each registered sweepstakes participant can earn up to 44 entries. Winners will be announced at www.followapolo.com in late-April.

The new flights are operated with Boeing 737-800 aircraft, accommodating 16 passengers in first class and 141 in the main cabin. All flights to Hawaii offer Hawaiian-themed beverages and meal service. Customers in the main cabin are offered complimentary Mauna Loa macadamia nuts and a complimentary Mai Tai or POG juice, as well as a Hawaiian-themed meal-for-purchase option for $6. Customers in first class enjoy exotic meals such as Polynesian petite beef tenderloin.

Inflight service includes Alaska Airlines' digEplayer, a personal entertainment system offering a variety of movies, television shows, music and other features.

Alaska Airlines Vacations offers a full line of vacation packages for travel to the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii. Packages include air transportation, hotel accommodations, ground transportation and tours. For more information about Alaska Airlines Vacations, visit alaskaair.com/vacations.

The new flights are available for purchase online at alaskaair.com or by calling (800) ALASKAAIR (800-252-7522 or TTY/TDD line 800-392-0228).

Note to news media: High quality broadcast footage can be downloaded at alaskaair.com/media 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.

SOURCE Alaska Airlines