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Aleutian Airways to launch Kenai-Anchorage flights

An Aleutian Airways Saab 2000 in Unalaska.
Maggie Nelson
/
KUCB
An Aleutian Airways Saab 2000 in Unalaska.

Aleutian Airways will offer two daily, roundtrip flights between Kenai and Anchorage starting June 6.

According to a service schedule published by the company, it will offer flights from Anchorage to Kenai at 6:35 a.m. and 6 p.m. Flights from Kenai to Anchorage are scheduled for 7:40 a.m. and 7:05 p.m.

Aleutian Airways serves multiple towns along the Aleutian Chain, including Dutch Harbor, Cold Bay and Sand Point. And the company resumed air service in Homer last summer.

Tickets between Anchorage and Kenai are already being sold on the company’s booking website. Flights from Anchorage to Kenai cost $145. Flights from Kenai to Anchorage cost $134.88. The Saab 2000 planes can each seat 41 people, according to a company spokesperson.

The Aleutian Airways announcement comes less than two years after Ravn Alaska ended its service to Kenai. Since then, Grant Aviation and Kenai Aviation have been the only airlines offering commercial flights out of the Kenai Municipal Airport.

This week, Ravn also announced it will end service between Anchorage and Homer starting Tuesday, Mar. 4, citing failure to reach an "equitable agreement" with the airport. The company says customers should be refunded for trips booked after Mar. 3 within ten business days.

The announcement also comes as the City of Kenai looks to boost flight service out of the airport, which serves, on average, just over 200 passengers per day. Last year, the city applied for a federal grant to establish direct service between Kenai and Seattle. That’s the final travel destination for nearly all passengers – 95% – flying out of Kenai.

The city learned in late 2024 it didn’t receive that grant, but has said it plans to apply again this year.

Prior to joining KDLL's news team in May 2024, O'Hara spent nearly four years reporting for the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai. Before that, she was a freelance reporter for The New York Times, a statehouse reporter for the Columbia Missourian and a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. You can reach her at aohara@kdll.org