SeaPort Airlines is preparing to launch a new route between Seattle and eastern Washington state.
Starting March 9, the carrier will connect Boeing Field with Felts Field near Spokane. The “shuttle” service will operate eight times per day, officials said, with two round trip flights in the morning and two in the evening.
SeaPort said service from Boeing Field offers an “easy and fast” alternative to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the busiest airport in the state and the region.
“The Sea-Tac mega airport has outgrown short-hop travel in the Pacific Northwest,” SeaPort Airlines CEO Kent Craford said in a news release. “The solution is 100 years old, and it’s under our noses. It’s Boeing Field.”
“As Alaska Airlines becomes a competitive global airline, SeaPort Airlines is ready to become the Pacific Northwest’s regional airline,” he continued. “Boeing Field-based flights bring fun and ease back to air travel with a simple and vastly superior way of getting you to Portland or Spokane that saves hours per trip.”
Officials also highlighted free parking at both Boeing Field and Felts Field and “short, easy trips to downtown Seattle and Spokane,” respectively.
SeaPort currently connects Boeing Field and Portland International Airport in Oregon with up to 16 daily flights.
Only SeaPort and Kenmore Air offer regular scheduled service from Boeing Field. The site’s lack of infrastructure and close proximity to Seattle-Tacoma have generally kept away larger commercial carriers.
“The big airlines have an unspoken pact to avoid Boeing Field, going back to the 1990s when Southwest Airlines considered it,” Craford said. “But we’re not a party to that deal, and neither are you. It’s time to stop reserving this amazing transportation asset for just the private jet-set and start making it available for everyone. That’s what SeaPort’s Boeing Field air shuttle is doing – making Boeing Field the peoples’ airport once again.”
SeaPort is a division of the Alaska-based Kalinin group of regional airlines, which also includes Alaska Seaplanes and Island Air Express.
