Alaska Airlines this spring will begin to overhaul its lounges in Seattle and Portland, Ore., with a multimillion-dollar investment, the carrier announced Wednesday.
Seattle Plans
Alaska plans to spend nearly $7 million to upgrade lounges at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The first phase of the project starts with the C Concourse lounge, where beginning in the late spring or early summer the carrier will add nearly 60 seats and 3,000 additional square feet, converting adjacent offices. The lounge will remain open during construction.
In the second phase, Alaska will overhaul the D Concourse lounge, closing it for six months following the completion of the C Concourse lounge changes. Alaska plans to expand seating by about 30 percent, add new product features—about which the carrier did not elaborate—and include a new bistro bar located near the lounge entrance. Alaska expects the lounge to reopen in early summer 2023.
Further, as part of the Port of Seattle's C Concourse expansion project, Alaska currently aims to open an all-new, 20,000-square-foot lounge in 2026. This lounge eventually would replace the current C and D Concourse lounges and become the primary lounge for guests departing from both those concourses. The start date for this project has not yet been set.
Portland Plans
Alaska is investing nearly $1.5 million for lounge upgrades in Portland for 2022, according to the company. Work is scheduled to begin this spring and finish during the summer on enlarging the lounge by 1,000 square feet with an enclosed patio area that extends into Concourse C and an additional 30 seats, bringing the seat capacity to 100. The lounge will remain open during renovations.
The carrier also plans to open in summer a temporary "express lounge" in Concourse B with seating for up to 35 guests near Gate B2. It will offer beverages and light snacks.
Further, Alaska's new 10,000-square-foot lounge for Concourse C is scheduled to open in 2025 or 2026, according to the carrier. The express lounge will remain open in Concourse B until the new larger lounge opens in a few years, according to the company.