Alaska Airlines has its sights set on Europe once again in the latest round of expansion. Earlier today the Seattle based carrier revealed a new livery that will appear on its Boeing 787s that will be used on transatlantic service. The airline obtained these aircraft after purchasing Hawaiian Airlines.
All of Hawaiians Boeing 787s will be transferred to Alaska Airlines and future orders will also head to Seattle as the airline plans to open a pilot base there. Hawaiian Airlines will retain the Airbus A330s which will get an interior overhaul.
Now, Alaska Airlines has announced two new international routes that it will launch in Spring 2026. London and Reykjavik will join previously announced service to Tokyo, Seoul, and Rome.
Alaska Will Fly the Boeing 787 to London
Beginning in 2026, Alaska Airlines will fly daily, year round service between its hub at Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR). Alaska is taking over operation of the Boeing 787s that are currently operating for Hawaiian.
When the airline initially announced long-haul service between Seattle and Europe on Hawaiian branded planes, I thought it would lead to some confusion for passengers. Thankfully, the airline has decided to move its 787-9s into Alaska branding with a bold new look inspired by the Northern Lights.
According to the airline, London is the largest intercontinental market from Seattle and more than 400 passengers travel between the two cities every day. While that may sound impressive, there are currently four daily flights scheduled between Seattle and London scheduled for next summer (1x Delta, 1x Virgin Atlantic, 2x British Airways) which is quite a bit of capacity.
Alaska will ultimately be going head to head with Delta and its Joint Venture partner, Virgin Atlantic, on the route. Alaska and British Airways are both part of the OneWorld alliance and it is likely Alaska will be taking over one of the British Airways frequencies on the route. It’s also likely the carrier received the LHR slot needed to operate this route from British Airways.
Reykjavik Will be Served with the 737-8
In addition to London, Alaska Airlines also announced service to Reykjavik, Iceland. The route will operate daily between Seattle and Keflavik International Airport (KEF) over the summer season.
Like the Seattle-London route, Alaska Airlines will face some stiff competition on this route as well. Icelandair will fly between Reykjavik and Seattle 3x daily next summer using Airbus A321neo aircraft.
Alaska Airlines will deploy the Boeing 737-8 MAX on this route which is quite a long flight for a 737 (and an A321). At 3,622 miles, this will be the longest 737 route operated by Alaska, topping its Anchorage-New York service, and the flying time will be upwards of seven hours.
My Thoughts
These are some interesting new routes for Alaska. Obviously London is a huge market and being part of the OneWorld alliance certainly helped the carrier obtain the necessary slots to operate the flights. I would assume British Airways would cede one of their two daily flights in the market to Alaska as 5x daily seems like quite a bit of capacity.
The Reykjavic route is a head scratcher to me as the route is already well served by Icelandair which can also provide onward connections to Europe. Alaska must be banking on the fact that enough passengers within the Alaska network want to visit Iceland in order to fill up this flight. It’s possible too that we could see Delta jump in here with a flight of its own as the two airlines battle for supremacy in the Pacific Northwest.
Summary
Alaska Airlines has announced two new international routes from its hub in Seattle. The carrier plans to launch year round service to London Heathrow along with summer seasonal service to Iceland. Flights are scheduled to launch in 2026 but schedules have not yet been announced.
(Images courtesy Alaska Airlines)
