EVERETT, Wash. — When passengers land at Sea-Tac Airport, their journey home is sometimes far from over.
Airporters take people to every far-flung corner of the region.
"We fly up here about once every other month," said Steve Kirkpatrick, who has a home in Southern California and another on Whidbey Island.
He's more than ready for flights to begin from Paine Field in Everett.
"It would make life a lot easier for us," Kirkpatrick said.
"It's going to be a very, very easy airport for customers. They're going to love it," said travel expert Steve Danishek.
On Monday, United Airlines began selling tickets to Denver and San Francisco for service starting March 31, 2019.
Alaska Airlines service starts Feb. 11, 2019, to eight West Coast cities, including Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
"You have options to fly from Paine over Sea-Tac into a hub airport and make connections without having to go through TSA twice," Danishek said.
Danishek compared one-way fares from Paine Field and from Sea-Tac on May 1, 2019.
He found on United, passengers will pay more to fly to Denver if they leave from Paine Field: $215 instead of $118 from Sea-Tac.
By contrast, Alaska fares are running about $5 lower from Paine Field than Sea-Tac.
"It looks like United's going to try to hold and say you're going to pay more for the convenience of flying with us into our hubs, and Alaska's saying we're going to give you a break because we have more seats to fill," Danishek said.
That early pricing strategy could change after the airlines get a sense of the demand from Paine Field.
More news from KIRO 7
- AG Bob Ferguson files lawsuit against local foundation, founder
- "Lunch shaming" ban puts North Thurston Schools $21,000 in debt
- Stephen Hillenburg, creator of 'SpongeBob SquarePants,' dead at 57
- Good Samaritan talks about finding hurt woman hours after rollover crash
- Do you have an investigative story tip? Send us an email at investigate@kiro7.com