Three months after its acquisition of Virgin America, Alaska Airlines is growing its Bay Area footprint, adding 13 new nonstop markets from San Francisco International Airport and Mineta San Jose International Airport. The routes mark the single largest new market announcement in Alaska Airlines history. With the additional flights, Alaska Airlines and Virgin America will offer guests 125 daily nonstop flights to 42 destinations from the three major Bay Area airports.
Alaska Airlines announces 13 new nonstop routes from the Bay Area
“The 10 new San Francisco routes and three new San Jose routes offer something for both the leisure and business traveller, including exciting destinations like New Orleans, Baltimore, Austin and Kona, Hawaii,” said Andrew Harrison, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Alaska Airlines. “Our strategy is to use the same philosophy that’s worked well for us in our Pacific Northwest hubs, which is to offer convenient, nonstop flights to the places guests fly to most. And if your itinerary requires travel overseas, our 10 global airline partners offer 137 international departures a week from the Bay Area.”
The new flights build on previously announced Bay Area routes scheduled to begin in the coming months, which include San Jose-Newark, San Jose-Burbank, San Francisco-Orlando, San Francisco-Orange County, San Francisco-Minneapolis and San Francisco-Mexico City.
To purchase tickets on Alaska Airlines, visit http://bit.ly/2mCC6NS to find great savings, or call 1-800-ALASKAAIR (800-252-7522 for Hearing & Speech Impaired (TTY): Dial 711 for Relay Services). To purchase tickets on Virgin America, visit www.virginamerica.com or call 1-877-FLY-VIRGIN (877-359-8474).
“With this announcement, Alaska and Virgin America have demonstrated their continued commitment to the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Ivar Satero, San Francisco International Airport director. “Like both of these great airlines, we have a passion for creating exceptional travel experiences, and we are thrilled that our guests can now enjoy more destinations from Alaska and Virgin America.”
To bring the excitement of these new destinations to travellers – quite literally, Alaska is launching a social media promotion today to deliver on-demand, destination inspired food items and free flights to Bay Area residents. Travellers who tweet the airlines at @AlaskaAir and @VirginAmerica using the hashtag #MostWestCoast and with an airplane emoji will score the chance to have a destination-specific treat (think BBQ for Nashville and beignets for New Orleans) delivered within a few hours to their front door. The airlines are planning more than 900 deliveries today – and 10 lucky travellers will also score a free flight to one of the new destinations. More details will be announced at 11 a.m. Pacific time on the airlines’ Twitter handles.
