Alaska Airlines to Cancel Petersburg Service March 23-April 21 Due to Runway Closing

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Airlines will not operate in or out of Petersburg from March 23 to April 21, 2009, due to the State of Alaska, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF) closure of the Petersburg runway to jet aircraft operations. The closure is necessary to replace several culverts that span the runway.

While the Petersburg runway is closed, flights will spend additional ground time at the Wrangell airport to accommodate Petersburg customers and cargo traveling to Wrangell.

  The temporary flight schedule is as follows:
  --  Flight 65 arrives in Wrangell at 9:19 a.m. from Seattle and Ketchikan
  --  Flight 65 departs Wrangell at 11:04 a.m. to Juneau and Anchorage
  --  Flight 64 arrives in Wrangell at 2:47 p.m. from Anchorage and Juneau
  --  Flight 64 departs from Wrangell at 4:35 p.m. to Ketchikan and Seattle

During the closure period, Petersburg customers are asked to book their travel to and from Wrangell. Customers who have already booked travel to or from Petersburg during the closure period should call Alaska Airlines at (800) ALASKA-AIR and request a reservation change to Wrangell. There will be no change fees.

The DOTPF is working to provide alternative transportation to Petersburg customers traveling to and from Wrangell during the runway closure. Alternative transportation is planned to correspond with Alaska Airlines’ flight schedule. More information is available from the Petersburg Alternate Transportation Office at (907) 772-2950 or tpac@aptalaska.net. An alternative transportation Web site will be available to the public in mid-January.

Customers planning to ship or receive Alaska Airlines cargo or Goldstreak packages to and from Petersburg will be able to do so from the Alaska Airlines Air Cargo office at Petersburg.

Additional information and assistance is available on alaskaair.com or by calling Alaska Airlines Reservations at (800) ALASKA-AIR or Alaska Airlines Air Cargo at (800) 225-2752.

The Alaska Airlines terminal in Petersburg will be open for customer and cargo services during the closure period.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group , together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Traditional Network Carriers (tie)" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 North America Airline Satisfaction Study(SM). For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.

  Contact:  Marianne Lindsey
            (206) 392-5101
  /PRNewswire -- Dec. 12/

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SOURCE: Alaska Airlines