Alaska Airlines enters El Paso market

Alaska Airlines launched operations to El Paso on 19 February, beginning daily services to the airport from San Diego and Seattle-Tacoma, with the Texan airport showcasing the new destinations in this elaborate, three-tiered route launch cake, adorned with a replica of the airline on top. Both routes will be operated daily using E175s.

Alaska Airlines launched operations from El Paso (ELP) on 19 February, with the carrier commencing flights to the airport from San Diego (SAN) and Seattle-Tacoma (SEA). The airline will operate both routes daily using its fleet of E175s according to OAG schedules. There is no direct competition on the 2,198-kilometre sector from Seattle-Tacoma, however Southwest Airlines already offers eight weekly flights on the 1,109-kilometre link between San Diego and El Paso. Based on data obtained from the airport, El Paso handled just over 3.26 million passengers in 2018, with this representing an 11% increase versus the 2.93 million that were handled during the previous year. Alaska Airlines becomes the airport’s seventh scheduled airline, joining Southwest Airlines (46% market share of passengers in 2018), American Airlines (31%), United Airlines (13%), Delta Air Lines (6.9%), Frontier Airlines (1.9%) and Allegiant Air (1.5%).