KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Alaska Airlines will be increasing the number of flights between Kodiak and Anchorage this summer, and residents will also see a change in the type of plane flying into the state-run airport.
By the end of this spring, Alaska Airlines will operate three daily flights between Kodiak’s Benny Benson and Anchorage’s Ted Stevens Airport, and the Seattle-based carrier intends to increase that to four times daily by the end of the summer. The airline currently flies twice daily between the two airports. 737s are the only jets in Alaska Airlines’s fleet that currently land in Kodiak – and that will be changing too.
The company announced it will increase its use of Embraer 175 twinjets statewide – including on flights between Anchorage and Kodiak. Nome, Kotzebue and Prudhoe Bay will also be served by the Embraer 175 for the first time this summer. E175s seat less than half the amount of passengers as the largest models of 737s and have smaller cargo holds. Both the 737 and E175 will fly between Kodiak and Anchorage daily as part of upcoming schedule change.
A company spokesman said via email that using E175s more frequently within the state will allow Alaska Airlines to fly more direct flights between Alaska and the Lower 48 – particularly as tourism season picks up this summer.
