With airlines announcing new service to Paine Field, it will become easier than ever for ‘Avgeeks’ to reach one of the Meccas of Plane Spotting and the home to one of Boeing’s major campuses. It’s only taken 80 years to get us to this point!

In the past few days, United announced that they will begin operating flights to Paine Field in October 2018.   Alaska made their announcement about service to the field earlier this year.    It also appears that Allegiant will serve ‘PAE’ as well, but no official announcement from them as yet.

United’s announcement stated that they will bring six daily flights from Denver and San Francisco.   Alaska thus far has announced 9 daily flights, but did not indicate where they would be coming from.

The Queen Of The Skies With Mt. Rainier In The Background

The re-opening of Paine Field to commercial operations has been a hotly contested topic in the Mukilteo area where the airport is located.   Equal amounts of voices were for and against opening PAE to airlines.   However, after the debates and legal challenges, the path has been laid to bring passengers to the field.

For us plane spotter types, this means it will be easier than ever to reach the birthplace of Boeing heavies and enjoy the views along the runway.    What used to be a flight to Seattle, followed by a drive that is usually mired in heavy traffic from Seattle to Everett can now become a flight to PAE, followed by a 10 minute hotel shuttle bus ride to the Hilton Garden Inn located next to the field.