Paine Field Airport has been under construction for some time (since 2017) and only now have photos been released... and it looks incredible.

Why is Paine Field building a new passenger terminal?

The airport will be the much-needed 2nd hub for the Seattle area, to help with residences who live far away from downtown (and to the north of Seattle) as well as the limiting capacity at the main airport. Additionally, this airport is the main facility for new Boeing planes and having a passenger terminal on site will help with customers, business travels and more going to the Boeing site.

"As our region continues to grow at a record pace and Sea-Tac Airport nears capacity, the time is right to bring air service to our valued guests living in the North Sound, Today's news means less time stuck in traffic on Interstate 5 and more time enjoying your vacation or making the most of your business trip." - Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden

This, however, will mean that passenger services are limited. With 747, 767, 777 and 787 widebody aircraft finishing assembly at the plant and conducting flight tests, there isn't much capacity to land normal planes.

Only two airlines have signed up initially to run services from the airport:

  • United will be running two routes from Paine Field from March 31st, 2019. There will be 6 daily flights, four to San Fransisco and two to Denver. They will be flown on United partnered Embraer E175 Jets.
  •  Alaska will be operating services from the airport as well from Feb 11th, which is rather funny as their hub is just down south at the nearby (in flying terms) Seattle airport. They will be flying 18 daily flights to eight cities: Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Orange County, California; Phoenix; Portland, Oregon; San Diego; San Francisco; and San Jose, California. They will be using the same jets at United, Embraer E175's.

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“We are excited to offer our Seattle and Northwest Washington area travelers new opportunities to easily access our hubs in Denver and San Francisco,” Ankit Gupta, United’s vice president of Domestic Network Planning

Alaska Airlines
An Alaska E175 sits at Paine Field.

Southwest initially booked to have flights to and from the Airport, but reconsidered last year and traded the slots with Alaskan. We expect more airlines to jump on this new airport capacity as the model is proven.

What does the new airport look like?

As the new airport is designed to be lighter capacity than a normal airline (like say, JFK), it has a far more impressive lounge format.

Paine Field.
The check-in desk area of the airport.

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Paine
And once you pass through security, the open lounge format awaits.
Paine Field
The terminal is fully furnished.

What do you think? Are you excited to fly to Paine Field? Let us know in the comments