Passengers should benefit from Sea-Tac's new international competition

 

Cathay Pacific's announcement that it will restore non-stop flights between Seattle and Hong Kong next year is icing on the cake for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where airlines added six new international services this year, and have plans for at least another six in 2026.

Cathay Pacific ended its Seattle-Hong Kong service during the Covid pandemic. When it resumes on March 30, 2026, it will fly five times per week on the 250-seat Airbus A350-900, offering another new gateway to mainland China, Southeast Asia and India.

This comes on top of new non-stops to Seoul and Tokyo added by Alaska Airlines this year as well as a new Edelweiss Air flight to Zurich and an SAS flight to Copenhagen.  Delta will add new non-stops to Barcelona and Rome next year while Alaska will also add a non-stop to Rome as well as Reykjavik and London. 

Seattle now has service to 36 international destinations on 30 different airlines, a major advantage given the 750,000 visitors expected for next year's FIFA Men's World Cup. Seattle will host six matches June 11-July 18th, also the height of the Alaska cruise season. 

Anyone who has traveled through the airport recently has experienced the long back-ups at arrivals and departures, long lines for rental car buses and long waits for loved-ones in a cramped international arrivals area.

One might wonder, "Is Sea-Tac up to the job of accommodating all the extra flights and passengers?''

And how about the airlines? Delta and Alaska are the airport's primary carriers. Delta has loads of experience with international flights, but Alaska is just getting started with international expansion plans that have been taking shape since it acquired new long-haul aircraft in its merger with Hawaiian Airlines.

Let's look at the airport first, then talk about how passengers might be affected by the growing competition.

Sea-Tac is undergoing major renovations to improve its baggage claim area and screening equipment; roadways leading into the airport; and amenities in its C concourse. The goal is to complete most of the work by the time FIFA fans arrive. 

With limited ability to expand outward, Sea-Tac is building up, adding three new stories atop the existing C concourse. 

A rendering of new Concourse C

The  main floor will include a shopping area called Marketplace at C.  Dining and retail will frame a tiered, open amphitheater with a stage for live music. The upper level will house new restaurants, and provide views of the airfield and Olympic Mountains via a lookout deck.

The road improvements, with dedicated lanes for rental car buses, should alleviate the long waits for buses that now get stuck in general airport traffic.

Working with the Transportation Security Administration, the Port of Seattle is optimizing the outbound baggage handling system (BHS). A new system will replace the current aging conveyor system, and position the airport for future growth.

With the number of additional international passengers due to arrive this year and next, Sea-Tac would do well to tweak recent changes at the international arrivals waiting area, called the Gina Marie Lindsey Arrivals Hall on the baggage claim level.

Baggage claim level TSA checkpoint

A recently-opened new security checkpoint on that level (the others are upstairs on the ticketing level) is convenient for passengers being dropped off with only carry-ons, but has added to the general congestion in an already packed waiting area furnished with uncomfortable cube furniture resembling concrete blocks and lacking phone chargers. 

International arrivals waiting area

The wait times are long for arriving international travelers due to an experimental system (to be revisited during a one-month trial starting this month) that requires them to pick up their checked bags before going through Customs and Immigration. Those waiting to meet their loved-ones deserve a more comfortable seating area. 

When it comes to flights, passengers can look forward to more competition which should translate into more competitve fares. Delta and Alaska will be going head-to-head on the new Rome flight as well as flights to Tokyo, London and Seoul.

Both airlines are adding to and improving their lounges at Sea-Tac. Delta customers, unhappy with its requirements for elite status, could decide to switch their elite status to Alaska, given a wider selection of international options that can be booked directly with the airline. 

Delta requires a minimum yearly spend of $5,000 to maintain Silver Elite status while Alaska's requirements for MVP Gold center on the number of miles or segments flown, bars easier to reach with the addition of longer, international routes.

Flight amenities and comfort will depend on the specific route. Delta has the superior in-flight seat-back entertainment system while Alaska passengers must stream movies and TV shows on their own devices. Delta seems to have lowered the quality of its food service on international flights in recent years, so it will be interesting to see if Alaska can do better.

To play in the big leagues, Alaska will have to up its game when it comes to the level of customer service and staffing that international flights require. 

Sea-Tac customers often complain of long waits to reach someone on the phone or long lines at its airport service desks when problems occur. 

Alaska's integration with Hawaiian is progressing in stages, causing confusion and frustration among passengers who go to agents at each airline expecting help, only to be referred to the other.

Beat of Hawaii Travel News lays out the problems in a lengthy post.

"Until the airlines are fully integrated, passengers may need to double-check everything from mileage earning, upgrade eligibility, and seat selection rules. This requires extra work at booking and again before departure, especially for those booking through Hawaiian’s platform but ending up on Alaska metal," it advises.

Armenia or Azerbaijan? Both have much to offer curious travelers

 

Bread hot from the oven at a roadside rest stop between Georgia and Armenia 

"On your first day in Armenia, you are a guest. The second day, you are a friend. The third day you are a relative." - Old Armenian adage.

Armenia or Azerbaijan? 

Although the former Soviet republics sit side by side in the Caucasus, a mountainous region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, visitors to one can't travel to the other without passing through a third country. 

With war upending a fragile, decades-old truce, the reasons why this is so are in the news again. Each country claims the right to control the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave bordering Armenia, but officially inside Azerbaijan. It was here and in surrounding territories where Armenian forces prevailed in a war in the 1990s that displaced 8,000 Azerbaijani, many of whom fled to the capital of Baku to live as refugees in their own country.  

For the average traveler unfamiliar with the political history, it can be frustrating to be so near and yet so far from neighboring countries that would appear easy to visit. 

That's what my husband and I discovered while visiting neighboring Georgia six years ago. We settled on taking a mini-bus from Tbilisi to the Armenian capital of Yerevan. Visiting neighboring Azerbaijan would have required backtracking through Georgia, so we saved that until 2018 when we traveled through Uzbekistan in Central Asia, and caught a short flight from there to Baku.

Both cities were fascinating places to visit, for their history, natural surroundings, pre and post-Soviet architecture and a population of energetic, well-educated young people.

Now, sadly, national attention is focused on the two countries, not because they dazzle as travel destinations, but because fighting once again has erupted over territorial disputes.

Turkey, which sealed its border with Armenia in 1993 to show solidarity with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, backs Azerbaijan in the current conflict. Russia, which considers the territory around Nagorno-Karabakh a land bridge to the Middle East (Nagorno-Karabakh shares a boarder with Iran) backs the Armenian forces.

Cease fires and negotiations brokered by Russia, France and the U.S. will hopefully lead to a renewed truce, but already many lives have been lost. Baku's vibrant downtown main streets have been darkened with giant screens playing video footage of drone strikes by Armenian soldiers.

Until the news of the war hit the front pages, most Americans probably could not find either country on a map. That's a shame, because like most all the former Soviet republics, they offer incredible value and a rich and diverse cultural buffet. You're not likely to meet many Americans, but you will encounter tourists from Iran and other parts of the Middle East. 

I look forward to the time, post COVID-19 and post-war, when adventuresome travelers can again have the chance to explore both countries. In the meantime, here's a recap of some of the highlights of our trip to Yerevan in 2014 and Baku in 2018.

Yerevan's historical center

So much to say about Yerevan, the capital of Armenia in the South Caucasus. The feeling here is young, hip and energetic, with a hint of the Middle East (Iran is about 200 miles away), in a former Soviet republic coming of age. As usual, one of the best parts about being here, apart from the food, is the friendliness of the people. Armenia's shared border with Iran plus its history of being ruled over the years by Persia (present-day Iran), the Ottoman Turks and Soviet Russia, makes for an interesting mix of people and cultures.

Soviet-era monument 

Unlike Tbilisi, Georgia, which had more of a village feel, at least in the old town, Yerevan is more spread out, with wide boulevards, parks and public squares filled with larger-than-life statues. Architect Alexander Tamanyan developed a grid plan for the city in the 1920s when the Soviets we're flush with cash.The main avenues point in the direction of Mt. Ararat, where Noah's Ark is said to have landed after the floods. 

Armenians claim the mountain as their own and treasure the views from here, even though Ararat lies in what now is Turkey. Surrounding elegant rose-colored museums and government buildings constructed in the late 19th and early 20th century, are lighted fountains and sidewalk cafes decorated like outdoor living roooms.

The State Museum of Armenian History and National Art Gallery, dominate the former Lenin Square, along with government buildings and a Marriott Hotel. We were surprised to find most of the museum explanations in English. Like visitors to the Louvre in Paris who head directly to the Mona Lisa, we were most interested in seeing the world's oldest leather shoe, on display in a lighted glass case. The 5,500-year-old shoe was discovered in a cave by a team of archaeologists a few years ago. The shoe, made of a single piece of cowhide leather was shaped to fit the wearer's right foot. No pictures allowed.

Armenian pizza 

Of course we enjoyed the food, more Middle-Eastern than Georgian, with lots of grilled vegetables, and dishes incorporating walnuts, apricots and pomegranate. Armenia's specialty is  Cognac. Travelers can take tours and enjoy tastings at the Yerevan Ararat Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory on the grounds of a former Persian fortress that once housed a mosque, gardens and underground tunnels used to get in and out of the city safely. 

Privately-owned until it was nationalized by the Russians, the factory was abandoned after the collapes of the Soviet Union in 1991. It reopened again in 2002 under the ownership of a local politician and arm wrestling champion, and now produces fine Cognacs sold all over the world, but mainly in Russia. 

Armenian flute maker 

A day trip into the countryside with Envoy Hostels led us to Kolya Torosyan, above, a musical instrument maker in his 80s. He lives in the village of Byurakan on the slopes of Mt. Aragats, the highest mountain in Armenia. He carved this traditional flute, called a duduk-doodook, from apricot wood in a closet-size workshop in back of his house. The flute has a warm, low-pitched saxophone sound. It now hangs in our living room in Seattle as a remembrance of a very special trip.

Baku

Anthony Bourdain traveled the world for his television show “Parts Unknown,” so it’s a shame he never made it to Baku, the oil-rich capital of Azerbaijan, boarded by Iran, Russia and Armenia in the South Caucuses.

Old Town Baku with one of a trio of modern "Flame Towers" in the background

From land-locked Uzbekistan, we flew across the Caspian Sea to experience one of the ex-Soviet Union’s most prosperous cities situated along the old Silk Road trade route linking China to Europe. Baku’s old city, hidden behind iron gates and medieval walls, evokes a colorful past. Outside the walls is the modern city, filled with one-of-a-kind new office towers, museums, fountains and parks. 

The government banned Bourdain from coming here because he filmed a TV show in  Nagorno-Karabakh. The  Azerbaijan government prohibits anyone who visits Nagono-Karabakh from entering the country. It’s the first question the government asks on its visa application. Lie and they find out, you’ll be denied entry, even if your visa was approved.

After prospering as a Silk Road stopover for traders carrying carpets and silk to the west, Baku’s fortunes rose again during an oil boom in the late 1800s. Wealthy merchants from Europe, Russia and the Middle East created a multi-cultural society where Muslims, Christians and Jews mixed an even inter-married. The country enjoyed just two precious years of independence between 1918 and 1920 after the fall of the Russian empire and before the rise of the Soviet Union. During that time, Azerbaijan established a parliament, and became the first majority-Muslim nation to grant women equal political rights with men. 

The Flame Towers are covered with the LED screens that display the movement of fire visible all over the city.

Preserved behind fortress walls is the old city, while just outside the walls are European-styled buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries and futuristic skyscrapers from the 21st. 

Baku is surprisingly affordable for being an oil-rich city that attracts international business. Public transport was a bargain. Our seven-room boutique hotel with all the mod-cons and a heated bathroom floor i was $100 a night. A half-hour ride on the new airport Express Bus to town was $1.60. A subway ride cost 15 cents. Dinner for two - olives, bread fresh from the clay oven, soup, salad, a platter of grilled vegetables, roasted chicken and wine -averaged around $17. 

Some call Baku the Dubai of the Caucasus, but I think it’s a far more interesting city, given its history and combination of Soviet-style, European and modern architecture. We took an excellent two-hour free walking tour with a volunteer from Baku Explorer. The majority of  people are Muslim, but most practice a version our guide called “Islam Lite.” Almost no one wears a head scarf, and cafes and restaurants serve alcohol. 

Baku metro station

Above is the Icherisheher station in the old city. Underground, the station preserves the original Soviet architectural style, similar to what we saw in Tashkent in Uzbekistan, although customers use reloadable plastic cards instead of plastic tokens to pay for fares. Above ground, the design in more in sync with modern times.

The Carpet Museum in Baku 

Carpets on display

Museums showcase Azerbaijan’s history as a center for literature, art and textiles. There’s a national museum of literature, named for it’s most famous poet, Nizami Ganjavi; a Museum of Miniature Books filled with 3,000 titles displayed in glass cases; and my favorites, the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, shaped like a rolled-up carpet; and the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, an art museum and exhibition center, known for its flowing, white curves, and excellent permanent exhibit on the history of art, music and crafts in Azerbaijan.

The transformation of oil-rich Baku: Azerbaijan's gateway to the Caucasus

Baku's Flame Towers are visible from many parts of the city. 

Anthony Bourdain traveled the world for his television show “Parts Unknown,” so it’s a shame he never made it to Baku, the oil-rich capital of Azerbaijan, boarded by Iran, Russia and Armenia in the South Caucuses.

From land-locked Uzbekistan, we flew across the Caspian Sea to experience one of the ex-Soviet Union’s most prosperous cities situated along the old Silk Road trade route linking China to Europe. Baku’s old city, hidden behind iron gates and medieval walls, evokes a colorful past. Representing a modern society of creative young designers are one-of-a-kind new office towers, museums, fountains and parks. 

Fountains Square

The government banned Bourdain from coming here because he spent time and filmed a TV show in the break-away state of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory Azerbaijan claims as its own, but has been controlled by Armenia since 1988 (a situation similar to the Russian take-over of Crimea in the Ukraine). After the Soviet Union collapsed, war broke out. Thousands of Azeris and Armenians were killed and displaced. 

Despite a cease-fire, the countries are still technically at war, and the Azerbaijan government prohibits anyone who visits Nagono-Karabakh from entering the country. It’s the first question the government asks on its visa application. Lie and they find out, you’ll be denied entry, even if your visa was approved.

Although we have never been to Nagorno-Karabakh, we were in Armenia during a previous trip to the region. We would have liked to visit Baku then, but couldn’t because the land borders between the two countries are sealed. Getting here this time was easier because we flew from Central Asia. 

The Old City

After prospering as a Silk Road stopover for traders carrying carpets and silk to the west, Baku’s fortunes rose again during an oil boom in the late 1800s. Wealthy merchants from Europe, Russia and the Middle East created a multi-cultural society where Muslims, Christians and Jews mixed an even inter-married. The country enjoyed just two precious years of independence between 1918 and 1920 after the fall of the Russian empire and before the rise of the Soviet Union. During that time, Azerbaijan established a parliament, and became the first majority-Muslim nation to grant women equal political rights with men. 

Preserved behind fortress walls is the old city, while just outside the walls are European-styled buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries and futuristic skyscrapers from the 21st. Arriving in the rain, we took refuge in a cafe while we figured out how to navigate the cobbled streets of the old town with rolling suitcases. Had streets not been blocked off in preparation for the Formula 1 Grand Prix later in the week (No, we didn’t know about it when we booked), it might have been easier to find the Seven Rooms Boutique Hotel in a century-old building a few minutes walk from the the Caspian Sea. Grand Prix planners constructed temporary concrete barriers and fencing to prevent racers from crashing into onlookers lining the route. The barriers blocked entrances to many businesses including a string of designer shops on the waterfront and the Four Seasons Hotel. 

Dinner at Dolma

Baku is surprisingly affordable for being an oil-rich city that attracts international business. Public transport was a bargain. Our hotel with all the mod-cons and a heated bathroom floor in a rennovated historlcial building was $100 a night. A half-hour ride on the new airport Express Bus to town was $1.60. A subway ride cost 15 cents. Dinner for two - olives, bread fresh from the clay oven, soup, salad, a platter of grilled vegetables, roasted chicken and wine -averaged around $17. Many restaurants and cafes are underground, entered down a flight of steps from the street. Our favorite was Dolma on Fountains Square, a lively pedestrian area just outside the walls. Diners relax underground in cozy nooks, eating from platters of grilled vegetables, chicken or lamb warmed over hot coals.

Icherisheher subway station 

Some call Baku the Dubai of the Caucasus, but I think it’s a far more interesting city, given its history and combination of Soviet-style, European and modern architecture. We took an excellent two-hour free walking tour with a volunteer from Baku Explorer. The majority of  people are Muslim, but most practice a version our guide called “Islam Lite.” Almost no one wears a head scarf, and cafes and restaurants serve alcohol. 

Above is the Icherisheher station in the old city. Underground, the station preserves the original Soviet architectural style, similar to what we saw in Tashkent in Uzbekistan, although customers use reloadable plastic cards instead of plastic tokens to pay for fares. Above ground, the design in more in sync with modern times.

Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center

The carpet museum 

Museums showcase Azerbaijan’s history as a center for literature, art and textiles. There’s a national museum of literature, named for it’s most famous poet, Nizami Ganjavi; a Museum of Miniature Books filled with 3,000 titles displayed in glass cases; and my favorites, the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, shaped like a rolled-up carpet; and the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, an art museum and exhibition center, known for its flowing, white curves, and excellent permanent exhibit on the history of art, music and crafts in Azerbaijan.

The "cocoon" area inside Baku's airport

Sleeping pods for quiet time 

Forward-thinking design also influenced amenities at Baku’s Heydar Aleyev airport. The airport commissioned an Istanbul-based studio to design wood-clad “cocoons” throughout the upper level of the international terminal. The 16 little huts house cafes, a champagne and caviar bar, a kid’s play area, spa and a bookstore. There also are several sleeping pods with pull-down lids for privacy. The designers compared the airport to “a huge playground” for a human-centered approach to hospitality design. Wouldn’t it be nice if U.S. airport designers thought the same way? 

Tea by the Caspian Sea

Anthony Bourdain got around, but it's a shame he never had the chance to visit a museum in a rolled up carpet, enjoy coffee in a cocoon, or sip tea by the Caspian Sea.