SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2001--Alaska Airlines (NYSE:ALK) set a new air cargo record for itself over the weekend, transporting 285,095 pounds of prized Copper River salmon following the first 12-hour opening of the 2001 fishing season.

That's 119,515 pounds or a whopping 72 percent more than what Alaska Airlines carried out of Cordova, Alaska, last year during the same period.

"It's particularly amazing when you consider that a much smaller fish haul was predicted this year than last," said Keola Pang-Ching, Alaska's director of cargo marketing. "Great fishing and strong consumer demand for Copper River salmon were no doubt the reasons why we saw such a large jump in the volume of fresh fish we shipped."

To accommodate the increase in fish over the weekend, Alaska added nine 737 all-cargo freighter flights to its two regularly scheduled daily departures from Cordova.

The first opener in the Copper River salmon fishing season was from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, May 18. Results from the second 12-hour opener, which concluded yesterday, will be available later this week.

Fishermen anticipate two 12-hour fishing openers per week until the run ends in late July, as long as enough salmon make it upriver to achieve spawning goals. More than one million pounds of the fish will be flown south on scheduled and chartered Alaska Airlines jets.

For information about shipping cargo on Alaska Airlines, visit Alaska Air Cargo at alaskacargo.com or call 1-800-2ALASKA.

--30--RYG/se*