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Flights to Paine Field can be booked from Thursday, and service is scheduled to begin in February.
Alaska Airlines has begun accepting passenger bookings from Paine Field to Everett, allowing Snohomish County to achieve its goal of providing a transportation alternative to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The carrier will operate 18 flights to eight cities from February 11, announced Thursday in a statement posted on its website. These destinations are Portland, Las Vegas, Phoenix and five California airports: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Orange County.
Flights start at $ 39 for a one-way trip to Portland and $ 59 for San Francisco. Meanwhile, one-way tickets to Portland from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on a similar date are $ 64 and those from San Francisco, $ 59.
Paine Field has also met the parking requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, with enough capacity to accommodate 1,100 vehicles, according to John P. Gallagher, spokesman for Propeller Airports, the private company operating the new airport.
The announcement comes the same day that Southwest Airlines waived its commitment to use Paine Field. The airline has transferred its slots to Alaska under a private agreement, he said in a statement, citing "commercial considerations" and without providing further details.
The construction of the $ 40 million passenger terminal authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate 24 flights a day is almost complete. The facility will become one of the few privately built and operated US terminals, with most airports managed by local municipalities.
Paine Field hosts Boeing's test and delivery operations for large aircraft, as well as private owners of small aircraft, flying schools and airline maintenance.
Snohomish County, owner of the airport grounds, signed in 2015 an agreement with a private developer for the construction and operation of a passenger terminal for a duration of up to 10 years. 39 to 50 years. This project has been criticized by some of its residents because of the potential of this project to increase pollution and traffic in the area. area. Others have supported the plan, which, according to the county, would help create jobs and boost local businesses.
The project met opposition from Mukilteo residents and municipal officials who filed a lawsuit to block the terminal, but in 2017, the state Supreme Court chose not to hear the case. case.
An analysis released in September by the FAA predicted approximately 656,000 passenger arrivals at Paine Field in 2019 and 736,000 in 2024. This increase is explained by the possibility that Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, the United States, have the largest passenger base in the world. other airline to serve the terminal, replace their passengers. the first Embraer 175 aircraft with a larger Boeing 737 to meet anticipated growth in demand.
Despite the FAA 's analysis that there would be no significant impact on traffic or traffic, Mukilteo Mayor Jennifer Gregerson said by telephone that voters are not going to be able to do it. were still concerned about the impact Paine Field would have on traffic around Mukilteo Speedway and Beverly Park Road.
The city recently sent a letter identifying "a handful of places that might be worth reconsidering" in the FAA's analysis, including traffic issues, Gregerson said.
"We hope that if we identify additional impacts, they will be mitigated," she said.
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