An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 carrying 163 passengers landed at Tampa International Airport from Seattle for the first time Friday night.

"The flight arrived today completely full. The flight tomorrow is actually oversold," said TIA CEO Joe Lopano. "So, we know that there's demand. It's just another proof point of how Tampa can sustain new air service."

The new daily non-stop flight from Seattle to Tampa takes about five and a half hours. Passengers from the Pacific Northwest said they were thrilled to make that trip in record time.

"Normally, it would take close to 12 (hours)," said passenger Spencer Linton. "So, it was very nice to cut that trip in half."

"It saved us a bunch of time. It was awesome. It was a quick flight," said passenger Monika Siegel. "We've never been to Florida. So, I think it's a great opportunity to get here."

The inaugural flight attracted passengers from Anchorage, like Lore Hoefer, who said the last time she made the trip with her son from Alaska, it took about 20 hours with multiple connections.

"We're so excited Alaska Airlines is flying one-way to Tampa," Hoefer said. "Now it's an easy flight. So, thank you Alaska."

A band along with live flamingos greeted those Seattle passengers at the terminal. There was also a Tampa and Seattle themed cake with a Space Needle made of chocolate.

Lopano said research shows the Seattle/Tampa route is one of the top three unserved markets in the United States.

"This is one of the largest unserved markets that we've ever had, 350 people a day go from Tampa to Seattle," he said. "They had no way to get their non-stop. Now they do."

The airport CEO said they spent two years attracting Alaska Airlines with an incentive program that waves fees and the non-stop flight will pay off for the Tampa area.

"We attract all these tourists into Tampa Bay," Lopano said. "They stay in our hotels, they go to our restaurants and they provide tremendous economic impact."

The non-stop flight from Tampa to Seattle departs TIA every day at 6:30 p.m.

Lopano said American Airlines announced it's going to begin flying a non-stop route from Tampa to Los Angeles. The CEO said he's working on getting a non-stop flight to San Francisco next.