Airport adds nonstops to San Francisco

Officials at Spokane International Airport and United Airlines today announced new twice-daily nonstop service between Spokane and San Francisco starting in June through United Express and SkyWest airlines. Flights will depart Spokane at 6 a.m. and 3:22 p.m., each arriving in San Francisco in less than two hours. Departures from San Francisco will be at 12:54 and 10 p.m. with similar flight times. Tickets go on sale Saturday. The service will run through United Airlines as United Express flights operated by SkyWest. The route will use 66-seat Canadair 700 and 50-seat Canadair 200 jets. Airport Director Neal Sealock said the expansion comes at a time when airlines around the country are making few moves to add service, and more often are cutting it. He said the decision by United to expand its Spokane service came as a result of requests from business interests to improve Spokane’s connections with the West Coast and Asia. San Francisco offers connections throughout the Pacific basin, including Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Sydney, Seoul and Osaka, Japan. Sealock urge customers in Spokane to take advantage of the new offerings so that they become a permanent feature of air service here. “Now that we have it, we have to use it,” he said. Sterling Savings Bank in Spokane operates branches in the San Francisco area and was looking forward to the nonstop service to improve the convenience for trips to visit those operations, officials said. In addition, high tech companies are expected to take advantage of the service, as well as visitors for conventions and tourism. Mike Prager can be reached at (509) 459-5454 or by e-mail at mikep@spokesman.com