New flight makes JWA international

Paul Clinton

JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT -- Alaska Airlines added a flight linking Orange

County and Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday.

The airline, which began flights at the airport in 1987, announced the

new flight with little fanfare. However, it was a history-making event

for an airport that has never before offered international flights.

“It will make Orange County an international airport,” said Jack

Walsh, an airline spokesman. “We feel there’s good demand from both

ends.”

The airline, Walsh said, added the flight after discovering that many

county residents travel to the Canadian city on their way to cruises

heading to Alaska’s famed Inside Passage, near Anchorage. Vancouver sits

on the country’s western seaboard.

And many Canadian tourists use John Wayne when heading into town to

visit Disneyland.

Customs will be handled in Canada, not at John Wayne, airport

spokeswoman Ann McCarley said.

“We will be considered an international airport now,” McCarley said.

“We’re really excited about that at John Wayne Airport.”

The first daily flight to Vancouver International Airport is set to

take off April 28. The service will run seven days a week.

The new service will include a flight that departs from Orange County

at 10 a.m. and arrives in Vancouver at 12:58 p.m. Another flight will

depart from Vancouver at 1:38 p.m. and arrive at Orange County at 4:33

p.m.

The airline will operate a 120-seat Boeing 737-700 aircraft on the

route configured with 12 seats in first class and 108 in coach.