The number of flights between the UK and Alaska is set to surge in 2013, with a number of airlines introducing flights between the city of Anchorage and a number of UK airports. (Featured image by bterrycompton)
Icelandair, Iceland’s main airline, are set to introduce seasonal direct flights between Anchorage and Reykjavik, with connections from London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Manchester.
In terms of domestic flights within the US, Alaska Airlines is introducing twice-daily flights between Anchorage and Salt Lake City, while JetBlue will start its Seattle to Anchorage service in May 2013.
United Airlines has also revealed that it will be starting a new seasonal nonstop service between Fairbanks and Chicago, starting in June 2013.
Cruise liners are also set to offer increased or new routes to Alaska, with a total of 31 large cruise ships scheduled to call 396 times in Alaska in 2013.
This will see one ship and 19 trips added to the current schedule, with the number of passengers visiting Alaska set to soar by an additional 65,647.
One example will see the Grand Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, replaced by the Sea Princess, bumping up the number of passengers by 700.
“The expansion of cruise capacity and additional air service will make 2013 a strong year for Alaska’s visitor industry,” said Lorene Palmer, director of the Division of Economic Development for the State of Alaska.
“Travellers will find that Alaska is more attractive than ever given the wide variety of large and small ship options, new domestic and international air service and a host of new tours and attractions to enhance their Alaska vacation.”
Recently released tourism figures from the State of Alaska revealed that an estimated 1.56 million people visited Alaska in summer 2011, with 57 per cent arriving by cruise ship, 39 per cent by air and 4 per cent by highway and ferry.
A total of 53 per cent of visitors to Alaska came from within the United States, while the remaining 47 per cent came from Canada and other international locations.
