SEATTLE, Nov. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska
Airlines announced today that it will end a daily flight between
Los Angeles and Havana, Cuba. The last flight is planned for
Jan. 22. The airline will redeploy
aircraft used to serve Havana to
markets with higher demand.
"Travel is about making connections, and we were honored to have
played a role in helping people make personal connections by
traveling between the U.S. and Cuba," said Andrew
Harrison, chief commercial officer for Alaska Airlines. "We
continually evaluate every route we fly to ensure we have the right
number of seats to match the number of people who want to go
there."
About 80 percent of Alaska's
flyers to Havana visited under a
U.S. allowance for individual "people-to-people" educational
travel. Changes to U.S. policy last week eliminated that allowance.
Given the changes in Cuba travel
policies, the airline will redeploy these resources to other
markets the airline serves where demand continues to be strong.
Alaska started the Los Angeles-Havana flight on Jan.
5, 2017.
Alaska has launched 44 routes
this year, which continue to develop according to forecasts. The
company anticipates it will grow about 7.2 percent this year. As
the airline looks ahead to 2018, its planning for nearly 8 percent
network growth by adding capacity in primarily existing markets.
Redeploying aircraft and crews will help the airline support the
growth.
Alaska guests who have travel
booked to Havana after
Jan. 22 will be rebooked on another
airline at no additional cost or offered a full refund.
Alaska Airlines, together with Virgin America and its regional
partners, flies 40 million guests a year to more than 115
destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across
the United States and to
Mexico, Canada and Costa
Rica. With Alaska and
Alaska Global Partners, guests can earn and redeem miles on flights
to more than 900 destinations worldwide. Alaska Airlines ranked
"Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Carriers in
North America" in the J.D. Power North America Satisfaction Study
for 10 consecutive years from 2008 to 2017. Learn more about
Alaska's award-winning service at
newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines,
Virgin America and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group
(NYSE: ALK).
View original content with
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alaska-airlines-will-discontinue-flying-to-havana-cuba-300556024.html
SOURCE Alaska Airlines