The airline will resume seasonal 45-minute flight service between November and April.
Horizon Air announced last week that it will will resume daily seasonal flights between Portland International Airport and Redmond Municipal Airport Robert’s Field, after reducing service to smaller regional airports during the pandemic. Service will resume at the end of this month.
The airline, which is a subsidiary of The Alaska Group, suspended flights between Portland and Redmond, which is a 15-minute drive from Bend, in November 2021. The airline attributed the flight suspensions to capacity issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alaska announced it would bring flights back this summer.
Airline travel has rebounded since then, with travel volume to Redmond increasing 19% above pre-pandemic levels, and 21% higher than when the airline canceled flights in 2021, according to data from the Transportation Security Administration obtained by The Oregonian. Travel and tourism in Central Oregon has rebounded and then some, with tourism spending in Central Oregon reaching a historic $1 billion in 2022, compared to $853 million in 2021 and $607 million in 2020, according to data from Travel Oregon.
The route will be served by Horizon Air’s E-175 jet, which can seat between 78-88 passengers and takes approximately 45 minutes. Ticket prices range from $69 to $119.
Daily service will resume on Nov. 29 and end April 10. Ray Lane, a staff writer for Alaska Airlines, tells Oregon Business over email that flying a winter seasonal schedule coincides with snowy conditions when some passengers might prefer to take a 45-minute flight instead of driving.
Horizon also provides service to Medford and Eugene. Historically the airline has served a number of small regional airports in the Northwest, including Klamath Falls and Pendleton, but cut services to those airports in 2008.
Lane didn’t say whether Alaska was planning on adding additional flights to other regional airports.
“Horizon takes great pride in serving smaller cities and communities. Again, we’re always looking at what makes good business sense – and what’s good for our guests,” Lane wrote to OB.
