US regional carrier SkyWest Airlines will begin flying the its Embraer E175 jets for Alaska Airlines on July 1, 2015 with the start of new services from Seattle to both Milwaukee and Oklahoma City, and between Portland, Oregon and St Louis.
As per the US-Japan bilateral agreement, US airlines may only operate a total of four daily round-trip flights at Haneda Airport. Currently that service is provided by Delta Air Lines from Los Angeles and Seattle, Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu, and United Airlines from San Francisco.
The introduction of a daily Emirates link between Dubai and Orlando will bring an estimated $100 million economic impact for Central Florida, according to Frank Kruppenbacher, chairman of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, who described the arrival of the UAE carrier as “the biggest move forward for our airport and this community.”
The Port of Seattle Commission has approved an enhanced program for new commercial air services to small communities in order to stimulate critical links between them and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Major US carrier, Delta Air Lines has announced its plans to add a non-stop service to Kona on the ‘Big Island’ of Hawaii, as well as increasing services from its hub at Seattle-Tacoma.
The filings, citing underutilisation of a scarce resource, have been prompted by the US DOT's decision last month to review the public interest served by Delta Air Lines' Seattle - Tokyo route after the US major reduced its frequency from daily to a basic seasonal schedule.
The US carrier confirms SkyWest has purchased seven E175s from the Brazilian manufacturer to fly on its behalf under a capacity purchase agreement (CPA). The first three aircraft will arrive in the summer of 2015 and will be used to introduce daily flights from Seattle to Milwaukee and Oklahoma City and from Portland to St Louis from July 1, 2015.
From May 4, 2015, SkyWest Airlines will introduce four times daily Delta Connection flights to Boise, Idaho and Sacramento, Calif, while seasonal daily flights to Ketchikan, Alaska and Sitka, Alaska will be added from May 15, 2015. The fifth new route to Denver will come online from June 5, 2015 and will be flown on a five times daily basis by Compass Airlines under the Delta Connection brand.
As Delta Air Lines’ expansion continues unabated and connecting traffic flows begin to shift toward this Pacific Northwest city, it is becoming increasingly clear that the industry is witnessing something that hasn’t been seen in a long time in the airline industry — a US legacy carrier developing a new airport hub from the ground up.
Alaska Airlines introduced service to Mexico in 1988 and operates more non-stop flights between the US West Coast and Mexico than any other carrier, flying an average of 1.5 million passengers a year.
