Alaska Airlines adds 3 routes, bolsters 9 others amid business travel surge

Alaska Airlines is launching two new routes from its West Coast hubs and bringing back another it tried out last summer — but full time.

The Seattle-based carrier announced Thursday that it will launch nonstop service from San Diego International Airport (SAN) to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, the carrier will also launch a new route from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Tri-Cities Airport (PSC) in Pasco, Washington.

Both routes will launch Oct. 1.

Alaska's new routes

Here's the rundown on Alaska's new routes:

• LAX-PSC: daily
• SAN-LAS: four daily round trips
• LAX-RNO: two daily round trips (previously operated in summer 2023; now year-round)

The addition of Las Vegas will give Alaska 39 nonstop destinations from San Diego.

Adding Southern California capacity

Alaska is making some other changes to its West Coast network come Oct. 1.

At that time, the carrier will restart a route from LAX to Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) in Nevada that it operated last summer. It will now operate twice daily year-round.

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Alaska will also add frequencies to nine different routes out of LAX, including additional daily round trips to its major hubs like Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Portland International Airport (PDX), plus more flights to a handful of other cities like Eugene, Oregon; San Jose and Santa Rosa, California; Boise; and Las Vegas.

Altogether, Alaska is upping its LAX capacity by a quarter, the carrier noted.

Factoring in both Los Angeles and San Diego, Alaska's seats were already set to grow by 10% over 2023 (though still short of 2019 levels) prior to these additional routes and frequencies, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

"We're committed to growth in Southern California, and I'm excited that we will offer our largest schedule out of the region in recent years," Alaska Airlines' regional vice president Neil Thwaites said in a statement announcing the news.

Alaska touting business travel bounce back

It's worth noting that this West Coast scale-up in service comes just days after Alaska executives noted a "material step up" in business travel, particularly helped by increased travel within the tech sector.

Travel through corporate accounts on the carrier surged 30% in February over 2023 levels and 22% over the entire first quarter, chief commercial officer Andrew Harrison said on the company's first-quarter earnings call this week.

That exceeded the 14% gains in corporate travel recorded by both Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

Harrison noted this "rapid return" of business travel contributed to the company feeling "encouraged" for the coming months.

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