A Pilatus PC-12, one of the two planes that will serve Wrangell once a day starting in May.
(Courtesy Alaska Seaplanes)

A Juneau-based airline is adding a new daily circuit that’ll connect Wrangell, Sitka and Petersburg. Alaska Seaplanes says the new Southeast route will start flying May 26. 

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This trailer at the Wrangell Airport is owned by Alaska Seaplanes, and will serve as the airline’s office in Wrangell.
(Sage Smiley / KSTK)

The smallest of the buildings at Wrangell’s small airport is a brown and white trailer. As of now, it’s pretty much empty. It used to be the U.S. Customs Office, but it’s currently owned by Alaska Seaplanes, which plans to use it starting next month. 

“That [building] right now looks kind of retro-60s,” says Andy Kline, the marketing manager for Alaska Seaplanes, “But we’re gonna try to update it and get it ready for service as we build towards this Wrangell service.”

Despite its name, Alaska Seaplanes operates mostly wheel-based turboprops.

“Every time we get to a new route, it’s really like starting a new business,” Kline explains. “You have to get people there, train them up, and we’re having discussions as basic as ‘We need stairs,’ ‘What vehicle should we have there,’ [getting a] de-icer, all that stuff goes into starting up, even for just a one-stop daily route. So it’s an exciting time for us and we think it’s going to be a really important link for the people of Wrangell.”

Alaska Seaplanes says it aims to begin flying the route May 26. The daily flight will depart Sitka at 1 p.m. the afternoon, touching down in Petersburg and Wrangell before returning to Sitka by 3 p.m. Alaska Seaplanes already has flights that run to and from Petersburg and Sitka, but Wrangell is the new addition – the company’s 15th Southeast community it will serve.

“There’s a lot of travel that goes on, commerce and people that go back and forth between Wrangell and a lot of other communities in Southeast, especially Sitka Petersburg,” Kline says, “So there’s been a need for a long time.”

Alaska Seaplanes started twice-daily flights between Petersburg and Juneau a little over a year ago. 

Wrangell is currently served by twice-daily Alaska Airlines jets – one northbound, one southbound. Alaska Seaplanes won’t be operating on that kind of scale. 

“Our planes are nine-passenger planes, so it’s a very small segment, but it’s a needed segment,” Kline says, “Especially when we’re talking about medical transport for people. Sometimes that very direct route is really a lifeline for people to get the medical attention they need.”

Kline says the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, which owns and operates Wrangell’s hospital, had asked the company to look into setting up a route linking Wrangell and Sitka, where SEARHC is headquartered. 

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, another plane that will fly the route between Sitka, Petersburg and Wrangell.
(Courtesy Alaska Seaplanes)

“They’ve had this request in to us for a while now, and we just had to – as you can imagine, there’s a lot to work through to get airplanes into scheduled service into a community,” Kline says.

While the company is called Alaska Seaplanes, Wrangell won’t be receiving new floats. Kline says the route will be run by one of two planes. One could be the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan.

“They’re really a great versatile airplane, especially for conditions in Southeast Alaska,” Kline explains. “They can take off and land in shorter conditions and with lower visibility than a lot of other airplanes.”

The airline also operates Pilatus PC-12s which are faster – Kline describes them as the Ferraris of the Alaska Seaplanes fleet – flying 300 mph with pressurized cabins.

Both planes carry nine passengers, but either way, it’ll be less than an hour’s flying time between legs.

Alaska Seaplanes hasn’t published its new fares yet. 

“We want our pricing to be competitive,” Kline says, “So we’re still working on that, the pricing will be a little dynamic.”

Other than office preparations, Kline says everything else is pretty much in place to begin running flights on May 26. 

“We’ll get the shag carpeting out of [the trailer],” Kline says with a laugh, “I don’t know, maybe we’ll keep the shag – we’ll see what kind of condition it’s in.”

In addition to Alaska Airlines jet service, Wrangell also has one air charter, Sunrise Aviation, but it doesn’t run flights on a set schedule. 

Alaska Seaplanes plans to start running flights from Wrangell to Sitka starting May 26. Find more information about Alaska Seaplanes flight schedules at 

flyalaskaseaplanes.com.

Get in touch with KSTK at news@kstk.org or (907) 874-2345.