The airport known as Paine Field in Everett, Washington, has mainly been used by the adjacent Boeing aircraft plant, and currently has no commercial airline service (and no passenger terminal or parking).
But that is due to change this fall, as both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines will begin flying there from the Bay Area and elsewhere.
Last summer, work started on construction of a passenger terminal at Paine Field, which is 23 miles north of downtown Seattle — well situated for travel to and from Seattle’s northern suburbs, the area known locally as the North Sound.
Bellingham Airport is located even farther north– almost to the Canadian border (closer to Vancouver, BC) and is served by Alaska and discounter Allegiant Air, with both offering flights to places like Las Vegas, California and Hawaii.
Alaska just announced it will inaugurate 13 daily flights this fall from Paine Field to eight destinations: San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Portland, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Las Vegas. The number of flight frequencies in each market and the starting dates (and fares) will be announced later, the airline said.
A few months ago, United Airlines unveiled plans to begin service form Paine Field this fall, operating six flights a day to its San Francisco and Denver hubs.
No word yet on whether rival Delta Air Lines will jump in, too.
“Like many big cities, Seattle has awful traffic and if you live north of the downtown core driving or even taking public transit to the airport can take up to two hours,” said Harriet Baskas, of StuckatTheAirport.com. “For those living in the North Sound flights from Paine Field will be a timesaving godsend. I can’t wait for this new airport to open,” she added.
Paine Field is also known as Snohomish County Airport. The new passenger terminal there is due to open this fall.
Alaska Airlines said its Paine Field flights will all use jet aircraft with three classes of service – first, premium and main cabin – and with Wi-Fi connectivity and streaming entertainment. United hasn’t yet said which aircraft types it will use at Paine Field.
