November 11, 2009
Alaska Airlines said Tuesday that a surprisingly strong influx of holiday travelers is lifting its November and December bookings, giving the regional carrier the leverage needed to bump up fares.
Advanced bookings for November are up 2.5 percentage points from a year ago, while December bookings are up 3.5 percentage points, Alaska Airlines President Bradley Tilden said in an interview. “Travel is a little more peaky than it used to be, so there is huge demand around Thanksgiving and Christmas–maybe more than it was years ago.”
To accommodate extra passengers, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is adding about 40 flights around the Christmas period, he added.
Alaska’s biggest airports are in Seattle-Tacoma, Los Angeles, Anchorage, Alaska, and Portland, Ore.
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The higher bookings are also translating into higher yields, or average ticket prices, though numbers were not available.
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