Alaska Air expands West Coast flights to Hawaii

Alaska Airlines will start flights to Hawaii from San Jose, Sacramento in March

• On 10:37 am EST, Tuesday November 10, 2009

SEATTLE (AP) -- Alaska Airlines said Tuesday it will start flights to Hawaii from San Jose and Sacramento, Calif., next March.

The announcement came a day after the Seattle-based airline began service from Oakland, Calif., to Hawaii, as it expands leisure-travel routes.

Alaska said it will fly three times a week between San Jose and Kahului on Maui beginning March 11, and four times week between San Jose and Kona on Hawaii starting March 12. It will begin daily flights between Sacramento and Maui on March 26.

With the March service, Alaska will operate 73 round-trip flights a week between the mainland and Hawaii.

Alaska will run the flights on Boeing 737-800 jets with 16 seats in first class and 141 in coach.

Shares of Alaska rose 22 cents to $28.41 in morning trading.