Alaska Airlines announces a second nonstop destination from RDU
It may seem odd to fly Alaska Airlines from the Triangle to sunny Southern California, but starting next spring you can.
Alaska will begin flying nonstop between Raleigh-Durham International Airport and San Diego in April. It will be the second destination Alaska serves from RDU, after its main hub in Seattle.
The once-daily flights are scheduled to begin April 22 on Boeing 737s. They’ll leave RDU at 6:55 p.m. and arrive in San Diego shortly after 9 p.m. local time. The eastbound flight will leave San Diego at 9:40 a.m. and arrive at RDU at 6 p.m.
Alaska will compete with Breeze Airways, the only other airline to fly nonstop between RDU and San Diego. Breeze began flying the route three days a week in April 2024.
Alaska began flying between RDU and Seattle in 2015. It also flew between RDU and San Francisco for a couple of years after acquiring Virgin America airlines, but discontinued the route in 2019.
Alaska Airlines got its start more than 90 years ago connecting remote parts of its namesake state with Anchorage. Now based in Seattle, the airline merged with Hawaiian Airlines last year and now serves more than 140 destinations in North and Central America, Asia and the Pacific.
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 8:29 AM.
