NEW ORLEANS – 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.
Alaska Airlines announced it will service New Orleans daily to San Francisco starting Sept. 21. Airbus A320 flights will depart San Francisco at 8:48 a.m. and arrive in New Orleans at 3:03 p.m., depart from New Orleans at 4:00 p.m. and land back in the Bay Area at 6:30 p.m.
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.
"The 10 new San Francisco routes and three new San Jose routes offer something for both the leisure and business traveler, including exciting destinations like New Orleans, Baltimore, Austin and Kona, Hawaii," Andrew Harrison, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Alaska Airlines, said "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.
"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."
Alaska Airlines and Virgin America along with their regional partners, fly 40 million customers a year to 118 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba. With Alaska and Alaska's global partners, customers can earn and redeem miles on flights to nearly 900 destinations in the U.S. and worldwide. Learn more about Alaska's award-winning service and unmatched reliability at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).
