Alaska Airlines is planning a sizable expansion at Paine Field, giving the Seattle area’s secondary airport considerably more service over the next year.
The airline announced September 24 that it will increase its seat capacity at Seattle Paine Field (PAE) by 50% between this fall and summer 2027.
The expansion includes one new destination, San Jose, along with more flights or larger aircraft on several existing routes.
Alaska plans to begin twice-daily flights between Paine Field and San Jose on April 14, 2027, operated by Horizon Air with Embraer E175 aircraft.
Los Angeles will also increase to twice-daily service, with both flights moving to larger Boeing 737 aircraft. Portland grows to two flights per day, while Alaska is adding seats to San Diego and San Francisco.
Paine Field Is Becoming a Bigger Part of Alaska’s Seattle Network
None of the individual route changes is especially dramatic. Taken together, though, a 50% increase in seats is meaningful for an airport that offers an alternative to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
Paine Field sits roughly 25 miles north of downtown Seattle in Everett, making it considerably closer for parts of northern Seattle and communities north of the city. Its small passenger terminal also offers a very different experience from Alaska’s much larger operation at SeaTac.
The expansion doesn’t turn Paine Field into another major hub. Most of Alaska’s Seattle-area flying will continue to operate from SEA.
But by summer 2027, PAE will offer substantially more Alaska capacity to several major West Coast destinations. For anyone living north of Seattle, that makes checking both airports before booking a trip a little more important.