Alaska Airlines Announces First-Ever International Flights to Asia

The new Alaska Airlines flights are a logical addition for the company, as Hawaiian Airlines currently flies between the US West Coast, Hawaii, Tokyo and Seoul, so the new flights will further enhance the shared brand’s offerings on that travel corridor.

However, those two new routes aren’t the only expansions. Alaska announced it’s planning more than a dozen international direct routes from Seattle by 2030. Unfortunately, travelers will have to wait to find out where, with the announcement promising “at least 12 nonstop global destinations with long-haul widebody aircraft from our Seattle gateway by 2030, with further specifics on where and when to be revealed later.”

But the international expansion news wasn’t the only new route for the airlines. Alaska announced it’s adding two extra flights per week between Hawaii and Japan, and adding extra flights between the Hawaiian island of Maui and San Diego, CA. San Francisco, CA, is also getting improved connectivity to Hawaii, with four non-stop flights per week from SFO to the Big Island starting on June 12, 2025, and three flights from SFO to Kauaʻi, starting June 13.

New overnight flights are also being added between Portland, OR, to both O‘ahu and Maui. And a new flight from San Francisco to Honolulu will also be an overnight, making it easier to fall asleep in Hawaii and wake up back on the West Coast. Those new flights are also helpful for East Coast residents, as the schedule will make it easier to reach destinations like Washington, DC, and New York, NY, rather than having to spend an entire day in transit and waiting at airports.

Other remote parts of the US are becoming more accessible, too, with Alaska Airlines announcing it will start using larger aircraft between Seattle and Anchorage, AK in the busy season (summer). It’s also going to use larger planes on flights between Honolulu and Sacramento, CA, as well as Honolulu and Seattle. Each wide-body A330 plane seats 278 people, increasing the capacity on most routes by about 20 to 25 percent.

Do both Hawaiian and Alaska Airlines still exist?

Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines in a highly covered merger in fall of 2024. It was finalized on September 18, with Alaska paying $1.9 billion total. But for now, the two airlines are operating as two separate brands under the Alaska Airlines umbrella, though you can book both airlines via the Alaska Airlines website. In October of 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will likely issue a new business certificate allowing the airlines to do business as one brand. At that point, Hawaiian Airlines will likely be completely absorbed by Alaska Airlines. You can read more about the details of the merger at this link.