Alaska Airlines Adds Three New Routes from Oregon

Alaska Airlines announced today that it is adding three new routes connecting the state of Oregon to other destinations within its network. Two flights will operate from the airline’s Portland hub and a third connecting Medford with San Diego.

The longest of the three flights comes as Alaska connects Portland International Airport (PDX) with George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston. Prior to announcing the flight, Houston was the largest unserved destination from Portland. The flight will be the third nonstop destination for Alaska between Portland and Texas, complimenting flights to Austin (AUS) and Dallas/Ft Worth (DFW).

Alaska plans to operate Boeing 737-900s on the route which features 16 First Class and 30 Premium Class seats. The airline will be competing directly with United which operates two daily roundtrip flights on the route. Alaska’s flight will operate on the following schedule:

Flight	Departure	Arrival	Equipment
(PDX-IAH) AS1420	10:30a	4:54p	B737-900ER
(IAH-PDX) AS1421	5:54p	8:49p	B737-900ER

In addition to Houston, Alaska is also adding 2x daily flights between Portland and nearby Eugene, Oregon (EUG). The two cities are less than a two hour drive apart but, with Eugene being home to the University of Oregon, these flights will be timed to allow for connections in Portland. Alaska already connects Eugene to its hubs in Seattle (SEA), Los Angeles (LAX) and San Diego (SAN).

Flights will be operated by Alaska’s wholly owned regional carrier, Horizon Air, using Embraer E175 jets on the following schedule:

Flight	Departure	Arrival	Equipment
(EUG-PDX) AS2418	5:30a	6:20p	EMB-175
(PDX-EUG) AS2420	11:00a	11:43a	EMB-175
(EUG-PDX) AS2419	12:23p	1:14p	EMB-175
(PDX-EUG) AS2421	9:55p	10:38p	EMB-175

Finally, Alaska is connecting San Diego International Airport (SAN) with Rogue Valley International–Medford Airport (MFR), offering a daily roundtrip flight on an Embraer E175 operated by Horizon Air. The new route marks Alaska’s 41st destination from San Diego as the carrier continues to expand in the Southern California city. The new route will operate on the following schedule:

Flight	Departure	Arrival	Equipment
(SAN-MFR) AS2486	11:25a	1:55p	EMB-175
(MFR-SAN) AS2485	2:35p	4:52p	EMB-175

Kirsten Amrine, Vice President of Network Planning and Revenue Management at Alaska Airlines, had this to say about the new routes and the airline’s focus on the state of Oregon:

“We’re based in Seattle, but Portland is a second home for us where we’ve been the largest carrier for more than 20 years. Our new flights out of Portland, Eugene and Medford show our continued focus on connecting Oregon with the rest of the country.”

In addition to the three new routes, Alaska is also increasing frequencies on the Portland-Medford and Portland-Redmond routes. Tickets for all of the flights mentioned above are currently on sale via alaskaair.com with flights starting in mid-May.

Summary

Alaska Airlines is continuing to expand its west coast presence with the addition of three new routes from Oregon. Two touch the carrier’s Portland hub while a third connects Medford with its growing San Diego hub. The Portland-Eugene route is the only real head scratcher here as Eugene is already well served from three other Alaska hubs however, there are likely other factors at play in that decision.