HELENA - The Helena Regional Airport announced on Monday a new flight from Helena to Seattle will begin on May 21, 2020.
The 76-seat daily flight by Alaska Airlines will be outbound from Helena at 7:00 a.m. Mountain Time and return at 11:15 p.m Mountain Time.
Alaska Airlines will offer this flight in addition to the current daily mid-afternoon flight to Seattle out of Helena.
“We’re pretty excited about this, it’s something we’ve been working on for quite a while,” said Airport Director Jeff Wadekamper. “Seattle remain the number one origination/destination airport for the Helena area.”
Wadekamper said passenger loads across the board were up 23 percent in the last 6 years, but have recently seen stagnation.
“This year we’ve been up only 2 percent just because we’re pretty utilizing all the seats that we have,” said Wadekamper. “So to grow further we need more seats and that’s why we’re excited about this. Not only is it going to provide great connections but it allows us to continue to grow the air service options in and out of the airport.”
The new flight was made possible due to a meeting in September between the Airport Authority, Montana Business Assistance Connection, the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce and Helena Tourism Alliance.
The last flight added to the Helena Regional Airport was a second daily Denver flight by United Express in June of 2018.
