Alaska Airlines to Launch Seattle – Kansas City

Posted 11/10/2011

Alaska Airlines is to compete directly with Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines when it inaugurates passenger services between Seattle and Kansas City next year.  The carrier will introduce a daily Boeing 737-800 flight between the two cities from March 12, 2012, increasing seat capacity by almost two thirds.

"Kansas City is the seventh-largest market in the country from Seattle that we do not currently serve," said Joe Sprague, Vice President of Marketing, Alaska Airlines.  "We're looking forward to bringing our award-winning customer service and our smiling Eskimo to the 'Show Me' state."

In the past year an estimated 173,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route but there is a clear need for additional capacity.  Only 52 per cent of these passengers travelled directly between the two cities, the rest connecting via other US hubs and the arrival of Alaska Airlines will provide an additional option for passengers.

Frontier currently dominates the market with a 32 per cent share of the traffic (including the passengers that flew with Midwest Airlines prior to its merger) and provides five weekly services.  Southwest Airlines offers a daily schedule which accounted for around 20 per cent of the total traffic during the past 12 months.  Traffic has increased by around 4.2 per cent during the past year, although yields have slipped slightly as average one-way fares have falled from $127 to $125. 

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