Alaska Airlines adding daily Portland-Honolulu flight to its Hawaii schedule

Alaska Airlines announced today that it will add daily a nonstop flight between Portland, Oregon, and Honolulu to its ever-expanding U.S. West Coast-Hawaii flight schedule, beginning Sept. 20.

Flight times for the new route are:

• Portland, Ore. – Honolulu, Oahu

Departure: 7:25 a.m. (West Coast time)
Arrival: 10:25 a.m. (Hawaii time)

• Honolulu, Oahu – Portland, Ore.

Departure: 11:25 a.m. (Hawaii time)
Arrival: 8:10 p.m. (West Coast time)

The new route will be Alaska Air’s second non-stop between Portland and Hawaii. The carrier launched thrice-weekly direct flights between Portland International Airport and Kahului, Maui, last August.

Sadly for fliers getting cozy with Alaska Air’s recent trend of launching its new West Coast-Hawaii routes with low introductory one-way fares, inexpensive flights appear to be on stand-by this time out. The carrier did not immediately announce an intro fare deal for the new Portland-Honolulu route. We’ll keep you posted if they do.

Bookings begin Thursday for the new route. Tickets may be purchased at alaskaair.com, or by calling (800) 252-7522.

Alaska Airlines has become a major player in the Hawaii travel market since first launching service to the Islands in October 2007. With the addition of its new Portland-Honolulu route, the Seattle-based carrier will have more than 80 weekly non-stop flights to Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii on its schedule.

UPDATE, 4/22/2010: Alaska Airlines announced today it will be offering an introductory one-way fare of $159 on tickets for the new Portland-Honolulu route purchased by May 4, 2010, for travel through Feb. 11, 2011. It will also offer the introductory $159 one-way fare on a just announced new daily flight between San Diego, Calif., and Kahului, Maui, set to begin Oct. 1, 2010. Tickets for this route also must be purchased by May 4, 2010, to qualify for the $159 introductory one-way fare.

Flight times for the new San Diego-Maui route are:

• San Diego, Calif.-Kahului, Maui

Departure: 9:20 a.m. (West Coast time)
Arrival: 12:10 p.m. (Hawaii time)

• Kahului, Maui-San Diego, Calif.

Departure: 1:10 p.m. (Hawaii time)
Arrival: 9:35 p.m. (West Coast time)