Alaska Airlines looks to leisure routes in winter schedule

The carrier believes demand exists for passengers wanting to visit ski resorts and beach destinations.

Alaska Airlines, citing rising demand for travel to leisure destinations, said it will launch five new routes in December, including a daily Los Angeles (LAX)-Cancun (CUN) service.

The LAX-CUN route will operate from Dec. 17 to April 12, 2021, and be flown with a Boeing 737 aircraft.

Also on Dec. 17, Alaska will launch year-round daily Embraer E175 service between LAX and Reno, Nevada (RNO).

The Seattle-based carrier will additionally launch Dec. 17-April 12 seasonal service between Palm Springs, California (PSP) and Boise, Idaho (BOI), to be operated daily with an E175. It will also operate 5X-weekly E175 service between PSP and RNO and 2X-daily E175 service between PSP and San Jose, California (SJC), also from Dec. 17-April 12.

“As demand for leisure travel returns, and for those ready to fly the coop, we’re excited to offer even more nonstop routes this winter,” Alaska managing director-capacity planning and alliances Brett Catlin said in a statement.

The airline noted it has launched 14 new routes this year from LAX, an airport that became an important part of Alaska’s network following its acquisition of Virgin America in 2018.

Alaska has also extended its block of middle seats through the end of the year.