Alaska Airlines beginning in June of this year is introducing new flights from its Seattle hub to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and shifting its Seattle-Miami flight to Fort Lauderdale.
The carrier said the move in Florida was cost driven. "By redirecting our flight to the lower-cost Fort Lauderdale airport, we can serve the same geographic area and continue to offer our customers low fares," said Alaska. It also stressed the shift would have little effect on customers since the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports are about 43km (27 miles) apart. Alaska has served Seattle-Miami since 2002.
Alaska is competing with US Airways on its new nonstop flights from its Seattle hub to US Airways' Philadelphia hub. Schedules in Innovata show US Airways offers seven nonstop weekly flights on the pairing, and Southwest Airlines operates six weekly one-stop flights on the route.
The new flights to Philadelphia begin 11 June while the shift to Fort Lauderdale is scheduled for 16 July.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
