Alaska Airlines will discontinue flying to Havana, Cuba

Aircraft and crew will be re-deployed to markets with higher demand

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Nov 14, 2017, 17:08 ET

SEATTLE, Nov. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines announced today that it will end a daily flight between Los Angeles and Havana, Cuba. The last flight is planned for Jan. 22. The airline will redeploy aircraft used to serve Havana to markets with higher demand.

Alaska Airlines will discontinue flying to Havana, Cuba

"Travel is about making connections, and we were honored to have played a role in helping people make personal connections by traveling between the U.S. and Cuba," said Andrew Harrison, chief commercial officer for Alaska Airlines. "We continually evaluate every route we fly to ensure we have the right number of seats to match the number of people who want to go there."

About 80 percent of Alaska's flyers to Havana visited under a U.S. allowance for individual "people-to-people" educational travel. Changes to U.S. policy last week eliminated that allowance. Given the changes in Cuba travel policies, the airline will redeploy these resources to other markets the airline serves where demand continues to be strong.

Alaska started the Los Angeles-Havana flight on Jan. 5, 2017.

Alaska has launched 44 routes this year, which continue to develop according to forecasts. The company anticipates it will grow about 7.2 percent this year. As the airline looks ahead to 2018, its planning for nearly 8 percent network growth by adding capacity in primarily existing markets. Redeploying aircraft and crews will help the airline support the growth.

Alaska guests who have travel booked to Havana after Jan. 22 will be rebooked on another airline at no additional cost or offered a full refund.

Alaska Airlines, together with Virgin America and its regional partners, flies 40 million guests a year to more than 115 destinations with an average of 1,200 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica. With Alaska and Alaska Global Partners, guests can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 900 destinations worldwide. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Carriers in North America" in the J.D. Power North America Satisfaction Study for 10 consecutive years from 2008 to 2017. Learn more about Alaska's award-winning service at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines, Virgin America and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).