range County-Vancouver
Nonstops will not resume at this time
Posted May 15, 2002


Alaska Airlines will not be flying nonstop this summer between Vancouver and Orange County.

U.S. Customs officials, after reviewing the airline's request to provide the seasonal service, told the airline that permission to fly between the two cities could not be granted at this time.

Although all passengers clear customs in Vancouver, there is a technical hang up that defies quick resolution: U.S. Customs does not have its own officials at Orange County. That's because the airport has never been formally designated an "international" facility. Without agents on location, Customs cannot conduct spot inspections and that makes international flights impossible. For now, anyway.

Gregg Saretsky, executive vice president of marketing and planning, said that John Wayne Airport in Orange County could apply to be so certified for international flights at a later date. "That doesn't help in the near term since this could be a lengthy process," said Saretsky. "So, we are continuing to accommodate customers by working with Horizon to provide connecting service between the two cities via Seattle and Portland and with same-plane service between Orange County and Vancouver on weekends." Meanwhile, Saretsky said airplane time freed by discontinuing the Vancouver-Orange County nonstop flying will be used to provide one more Orange County-Seattle flight, beginning June 10. That will bring the total departures between those two markets to 9 daily flights.

Alaska initiated the Vancouver-Orange County service April 28 and operated several nonstops until realizing it had made an incorrect assumption about passenger clearance in Canada permitting international arrivals and departures at Orange County; it does not.