The battle for Seattle is heating up once again.
SeaTac is getting its first direct service to India.
America Airlines announced it will launch flights to Bangalore, India, in October from Seattle.
The service to India’s Silicon Valley will operate daily and marks American’s return to India after many years.
It is a surprising choice given that Seattle is not a major American hub.
"This is going to come as a bit of a surprise to the world. I’m not sure anyone has done anything like this,” said Vasu Raja, American’s network strategy SVP.
It also marks a new chapter for American and Seattle based Alaska Airlines.
They have rekindled their partnership with a renewed alliance focused on the West Coast.
They will codeshare on domestic flights and expand that to international routes from LAX and SeaTac, including the Bangalore flight and a new route just announced to London out of Seattle.
Loyalty members of both airlines will be able to earn and redeem points on flights operated by the other airline and connect to and from international flights at the two hubs.
The expanded codeshare partnership will roll out gradually.
