The first flights from Seattle’s new airport, Paine Field, took off on Monday, March 4, the Seattle Times reports.
The airfield formerly operated by aircraft manufacturer Boeing is being touted as a regional alternative to busy Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Alaska Airlines and United Airlines will initially operate a combined 24 daily flights from the airport in Everett, Washington. Alaska Airlines will fly to Portland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose; United will fly to San Francisco and Denver starting on March 31.
Both airlines will operate Embraer 175 jets from the airport.
A $40-million, two-gate, 30,000-square-foot terminal was built to accommodate commercial flights out of the airport, which was previously used for testing by Boeing and civilian aviation.
USA Today reported that Paine Field is 30 miles north of downtown Seattle and 40 miles north of Sea-Tac airport.
“I think we’ll have a good mix of leisure and business travellers,” said Mario Doiron, Alaska Airlines’ station supervisor at Paine Field.
“The morning flights will likely be filled with business travelers, as is the pattern now for us at (Seattle-Tacoma). But there’s been more interest from leisure travellers than we thought.”
