SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 2001--Alaska Airlines (NYSE:ALK) announced today that it has applied for authority to provide nonstop service from Los Angeles to Cancun and the Mayan Riviera.

The service, which would begin in late October, must be approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation. It would be the only daily nonstop service by a U.S. carrier from the West Coast to the popular Caribbean resort. Alaska would serve the route using Next Generation Boeing 737-700 aircraft configured to carry 120 passengers -- 12 in first class and 108 in coach.

"This proposed service would provide easy, same-day access to one of the most beautiful vacation spots in the world for our customers in California, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and western Canada," said Gregg Saretsky, the carrier's senior vice president of marketing and planning.

Cancun is located on the Caribbean coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and receives more than 3.7 million visitors annually. One-third of all tourist arrivals to Mexico are to Cancun.

The flight would depart Los Angeles daily at 1:19 p.m. and arrive in Cancun at 7:59 p.m. The return flight would depart Cancun at 10:35 a.m. and arrive in Los Angeles at 2:25 p.m.

Service to Cancun would be Alaska's sixth destination in Mexico. Alaska currently serves the West Coast resorts of Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo/Costa Alegre.

For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines Newsroom on the Internet at http://newsroom.alaskaair.com.

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