The acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Airlines is taking its first steps, following the announcement of new Alaska Airlines routes between Seattle and Asia. In addition, the Group will enhance its domestic network with new services from San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands, increase flights between Hawai’i and Japan, maximize widebody services and improve the connection of East Coast and Midwest flights to Hawai’i. These operations will start in 2025.
Alaska will inaugurate flights between Seattle Tacoma and Tokyo Narita beginning May 12th, 2025 with Hawaiian Airbus A330-200s, while service to Seoul, available for sale early next year, will commence in October 2025. Operations to Tokyo, which can be purchased through Alaska’s and Hawaiian’s websites, will offer connections to oneWorld partner Japan Airlines’ destinations from/to the Japanese capital.
For the first time, Alaska Airlines will enter the Seattle – Asia market. Hawaiian currently has 24 A330s in its fleet, which the company will use on these flights, all configured for 278 passengers in two classes (18 Business and 260 Economy). According to our database, the Airbus A330s are currently based in Hawai’i, providing services to the United States, Asia and Oceania.
Schedule between Seattle and Tokyo (Alaska/Hawaiian)
Daily
- HA 823 Seattle SEA 13:40 · 16:00+1 NRT Tokyo
- HA 824 Tokyo NRT 18:25 · 11:40 SEA Seattle
One of the Group’s main hub, located in Seattle, is the largest on the West Coast of any airline, offering 104 non-stop destinations across North America. Including Tokyo Narita and Seoul Incheon, the company plans to perform 12 non-stop routes from Seattle with long-haul widebody aircraft starting in 2030, with other new destinations to be announced soon.
Increasing flights to Japan
The new service between Seattle and Tokyo will increase flights in the Hawaiʻi-Japan market, an important business for the Group.
By repositioning aircraft on the Honolulu – Tokyo Narita route to the Seattle – Tokyo Narita route, the airline will boost service between Honolulu and Tokyo Haneda from 12 to 14 flights per week. Additionally, the company will maintain operations to Osaka and Fukuoka from Honolulu, offering a total of 24 weekly flights between Hawaiʻi and Japan.
More choices between the West Coast and Hawaiʻi
Hawaiian and Alaska will upgrade its departures to improve its time-of-day coverage. Alaska Airlines will expand its seat offerings between Seattle and Honolulu by 20%, operating three of its six daily flights on this route by Hawaiian Airlines widebody aircraft. In addition, Portland will have three daily non-stop services to Honolulu with convenient staggered departure times and a 25% boost in available seats. Finally, the Group will also improve its San Diego connectivity, with mid-morning and late afternoon departures from Maui instead of just morning departures, and a new schedule of departures from Maui (mid-afternoon and redeye).
Improved connectivity for East Coast and Midwest flights to Hawaiʻi
Using its combined network, the airline will allow flights from the East Coast and Midwest to connect more easily on the West Coast before continuing on to the islands. The Group will add new overnight flights from Honolulu to Portland and San Francisco, as well as on the Maui-Portland route. Redeye flights will also enable new connections for passengers across the US mainland and boost Hawaiian’s aircraft operations.
Maximizing widebody aircraft flights
Hawaiian Airlines will maximize its scheduled services with Airbus A330-200 aircraft, on routes to/from Honolulu as well as from/to Seattle, Alaska Airlines’ hub. As previously mentioned, three daily flights will be operated by these aircraft on the Honolulu – Seattle route, and will also serve one daily frequency between Honolulu and Sacramento using A330s.
During peak summer season in the state of Alaska, Hawaiian will fly to Seattle from Anchorage on Airbus A330s, taking advantage of their increased seating and cargo capacity. Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines have complementary cargo route networks, with the cargo market being an important part of the communities each serves. Alaska Airlines, with respect to the SEA-ANC route, intends to operate at least 18 daily frequencies by summer 2025.
Daily · eff June 12th, 2025 (A330-200)
- HA 681 Seattle SEA 11:45 · 14:30 ANC Anchorage
- HA 682 Anchorage ANC 16:10 · 20:30 SEA Seattle
New routes between San Francisco and the Islands
Alaska Airlines will add new routes to Hawaiʻi from San Francisco as of June 2025. Kona and Līhuʻe will be its destinations, with the following schedule:
- San Francisco (SFO) – Kona (KOA): 4 weekly · June 12th, 2025
- San Francisco (SFO) – Līhuʻe (LIH): 3 weekly · June 13th, 2025
Other Hawaiian Airlines increases
- Honolulu (HNL) – Tokyo (HND): from 12 to 14 weekly · March 30th, 2025
- Honolulu (HNL) – Seattle (SEA): from 14 to 21 weekly · April 21st, 2025
- Honolulu (HNL) – Los Angeles (LAX): from 14 to 21 weekly · April 22nd, 2025
- Honolulu (HNL) – Seattle (SEA): from 21 to 28 weekly · May 15th, 2025
- Honolulu (HNL) – Portland (PDX): from 7 to 21 weekly · June 12th, 2025
With these new services, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will perform four daily frequencies to the four main Hawaiian Islands from San Francisco.
Regarding the fleet, adding both airlines, the Group has a total of 438 aircraft. Airbus, Boeing and Embraer are part of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, averaging 10 years of age.
| Aircraft | Total | Average | Airline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A321neo | 18 | 6 years | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Airbus A330-200 | 24 | 11 years | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Airbus A330-300 | 7 | 10 years | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Boeing 717-200 | 19 | 23 years | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Boeing 737-700 | 14 | 24 years | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737-800 | 61 | 17 years | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737-900 | 7 | 23 years | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737-900ER | 79 | 9 years | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 5 | 6 months | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 9 | 72 | 3 years | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | 2 | 2 years | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Embraer 175 | 86 | 6 years | Alaska Airlines |
| Embraer 175 | 44 | 5 years | Horizon Air (Alaska) |
Hawaiian placed an order for 12 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which it has already incorporated two. The airline plans to continue adding 787s to its fleet through 2027.
Furthermore, as announced in the press release, Alaska and Hawaiian had to increase Hawaiian Airlines’ Airbus A321 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight hours on a daily basis to optimize their fleet utilization. This is due to the delay of new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to Alaska Airlines.
Other articles we have published
- Virgin Atlantic returns to Cancun (November 15th)
- KLM adds points east and west (November 22nd)
- Allegiant announces 44 new routes for 2025 (November 29th)
- Etihad unveils 10 new routes in one day (December 6th)
- Seoul Man: SAS expands its Asian network (December 13th)
Cover photo: Hongming Zheng – JetPhotos (Seattle-Tacoma Int’l Airport – KSEA, USA – Washington)
