Ravn Alaska’s new nonstop aircraft touched down for the first time in Unalaska Monday.
The Dash 8-300 left Anchorage just before 7 a.m. and landed in Unalaska around 10 a.m. with about 35 passengers on board.
The plane can hold up to 50 people instead of the current cap of 37, and will supplement the Dash 8-100 series on the Anchorage to Unalaska route, according to Ravn CEO Rob McKinney.
“The really big service increase for us is that it has extended-range tanks,” he said. “So we can consistently make it to Dutch Harbor no matter what the winds are, without having to do a fuel stop.”
McKinney said Ravn only has one of the new upgraded planes for now, but the company is in the process of acquiring two more so that Unalaskans can consistently count on the nonstop service. The first of the additional planes could come online as early as February.
Ravn spent the last several months training its crews for the new aircraft and recently received final approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for passenger service.
