Oakland Airport: 'Bye United, Hello ArkeFly

Bay City News—United Airlines ended 75 years of service at Oakland International Airport with a flight to Denver late Sunday morning.

Airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said fire crews at the airport marked the occasion with a water arch over the last United plane, which "symbolized and recognized 75 wonderful years here in Oakland."

United Airlines announced in a statement in April that it would discontinue its flights between Denver and Oakland because "the financial performance of the flights has made the losses too great to allow us to maintain the service." United said it will continue to offer daily nonstop flights between San Francisco and San Jose and its hub in Denver.

Barnes said that in recent years, United only served 1.4 percent of travelers who pass through the Oakland airport with its 11 weekly flights between Oakland and Denver.

She said fire crews at the Oakland airport will have another water arch ceremony on Thursday to welcome the first flight by the Dutch airline ArkeFly to Oakland.

ArkeFly, a low-cost airline, will offer flights between Oakland and Amsterdam twice a week through Oct. 18, Barnes said. Airport officials hope that ArkeFly will offer flights again next summer and on a more long-term basis in the future, she said.

Barnes said the Oakland airport's loss of United Airlines has been offset by an increase in service to the city by other carriers, including Alaska Airlines and Allegiant Air.

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