Alaska Airlines Delivers Season’s First Shipment of Copper River Salmon to Seattle

Alaska Airlines delivered the season’s first shipment of Copper River salmon to Seattle this morning and anticipates delivering more than 130,000 pounds of the coveted fish by the end of opening day. The arrival of Copper River salmon marks the start of the summer salmon season and is anticipated by seafood lovers throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

The first of Alaska Airlines’ Copper River salmon flights, chartered by Ocean Beauty Seafood, arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 6:45 a.m. Pacific time carrying about 29,000 pounds of fish. Additional Copper River salmon will arrive today in Seattle on passenger flights as well as on two cargo flights chartered by NorQuest Seafoods and Copper River Seafood.

"There is so much demand for this tasty fish that we’re actually operating overnight charter flights to get it to market less than 24 hours after it comes out of the water," said Matt Yerbic, Alaska Airlines’ managing director of cargo. "This kind of specialized service to the Alaska seafood industry will only increase as Alaska Airlines expands our cargo operation and introduces a newer, larger cargo fleet in the months ahead."

Alaska Airlines plays a significant role in shipping fresh Alaska seafood. Last year, the carrier flew more than 26 million pounds of Alaska seafood to the Lower 48 states and beyond, including more than a million pounds of the popular Copper River salmon. To celebrate this partnership, last October the airline introduced the "Salmon-Thirty-Salmon," a Boeing 737-400 painted with the image of an Alaska king salmon.

Transporting more than 150 million pounds of cargo annually, including seafood, mail and freight, Alaska Airlines operates the most extensive air cargo operation on the U.S. West Coast. The company will introduce a larger cargo fleet during the coming months when it replaces its existing 737-200 cargo aircraft with larger 737-400 aircraft.

Alaska Airlines and sister carrier, Horizon Air, together serve 88 cities through an expansive network throughout Alaska, the Lower 48, Canada and Mexico. For reservations visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air newsroom at http://newsroom.alaskaair.com/.

SOURCE: Alaska Airlines