Alaska Airlines is targeting travelers flying between the West Coast of the United States and Canada and Iceland. Other significant markets without nonstop service to Iceland include Los Angeles and San Francisco, with approximately 34,000 and 24,000 annual passengers respectively. Several other cities also contribute thousands of passengers each year via connections through Seattle.
Data from Cirium Diio shows that this new route will become the longest scheduled MAX flight by any US operator since the type's introduction. The current record is held by Alaska's Anchorage to New York JFK service, which is about 200 nautical miles shorter than the upcoming Seattle-Keflavik link. Other long-haul MAX routes operated by US carriers include Newark-Anchorage and Washington Dulles-Anchorage by United Airlines.
After completing its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines in late 2025—a move that will see both airlines operate under one certificate—Alaska Air Group expects further growth in long-haul operations from Seattle. The airline plans to expand its network significantly by the end of the decade.
Currently, Alaska’s European and Asian network includes five routes: daily service to Keflavik (MAX 8), London Heathrow (787-9), Rome Fiumicino (787-9), Seoul Incheon (787-9), and Tokyo Narita (A330-200). The addition of widebody aircraft such as the Boeing 787-9 signals a major shift for Alaska as it transforms into a long-haul operator.
"Alaska will run daily on a seasonal basis using the 159-seat MAX 8. It has 12 domestic first-class seats and 147 economy seats. Given that it is domestic first, it'll be interesting to see how it promotes this cabin for what is a long-haul operation. While May 29 has been stated as the launch date, this has not been confirmed. The schedule, pricing, etc., are currently unknown, but will be revealed later this year."
"According to booking data, Seattle-Keflavik had 51,000 round-trip point-to-point passengers (those who only flew between the two airports) in the 12 months to May 2025. That's not much, especially for two carriers. This is only part of the picture. Alaska will join codeshare partner Icelandair, which currently has three daily flights on the Airbus A321LR, with most passengers connecting across Europe. It is not among the US's routes with the highest loads."
"Alaska will, of course, be particularly focused on passengers flying between the West Coast of the US/Canada and Iceland. Of airports without nonstop Iceland flights, notable markets are predictably Los Angeles (34,000) and San Francisco (24,000). Many others had 4,000+, including Anchorage, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, etc. As usual with hubs it's about the cumulative effect of many origins and destinations."
"Using Cirium Diio data to examine every passenger-carrying scheduled MAX flight since the type's introduction shows that Seattle to Keflavik will cover more distance than any other market served by a US operator. Not that there's a huge amount in it. The new link only surpasses what is currently the record-longest link (from Anchorage to New York JFK) by 200 nautical miles on a great circle basis."
"The Alaska Air Group's acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines should be completed in the final quarter of 2025 after which they will have one air operator's certificate. Widebodies flying from Seattle were inevitable. It is part of Alaska's enormous transformation including becoming a long-haul operator with a dozen such routes from Seattle expected by the decade's end."
"For now Alaska's European and Asian network consists of five routes: Keflavik (daily MAX 8; starts next May), London Heathrow (daily 787-9; begins next May), Rome Fiumicino (four weekly 787-9; starts next May), Seoul Incheon (five weekly 787-9; begins in September 2025), and Tokyo Narita (began in May 2025; daily A330-200; the 787-9 will appear early next year)."
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