Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian jointly launch new nonstop flights from Seattle to Tokyo

It gives way to Alaska Airlines on the global stage.

Nine months after the Seattle carrier obtained the government’s approval to acquire Hawaiian Airlines, it was on board on Monday as the two brands of airlines, now operated by a parent company, worked together to launch toko service toko without stopping.

Tuesday playing at Narita International Airport (NRT), the flight introduced a new era for Alaska, an airline centered in the country for a long time that it only ventured as far from the United States as its narrow body Boeing fleet.

The new flight will offer travelers a new way to get to Japan with points and miles. And, with more international destinations without stopping in process, the route will probably serve as the launch platform for a global expansion that Alaska Espera leads to the combined operator to long -distance boxes of boxes at the end of this decade.

Japan inaugural service

There was some irony in the bomb and the circumstances surrounded by the inaugural flight of Monday from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea) to Narita, no doubt. After all, several airlines already fly to Tokyo from Seattle, from Delta Air Lines to all the Nippon and Japan Airlines airways; Hawaiian has also flown between his native and Japan state for years.

Even so, this hero of flight additional meaning.

When Alaska Air Group first announced plans to acquire the Hawaiian airlines in December 2023, part of the vision was to become a true global airline. Among the opportunities that Alaska saw in his counterpart in Honolulu headquarters: the Fleet of larger Hawaiian aircraft, and their orders for more of them in the coming years.

In recent months since the merger, we have seen Alaska and Hawaii work to integrate their loyalty and operations programs behind the scene. They simply moved to the doors in the main centers to be closer to each other.

Executives saw the launch of a global entrance door in the sea as a key step in that evolution that now has the two-Becons brands in states 49 and 50 of the United States, now, now, now that they grow together as the fifth largest transporter in the country.

“It is surreal for me to see how much growth has bone,” said Alaska CEO, Ben Minicucci, speaking before flight.

At the airport

From the beginning, Hawaian will operate this new international service between Seattle and Narita on a route that, singularly, will not touch Hawaii at all, unlike most of the routes that he has operated in its history.

For passengers checking a bag (or registering) at the airport, that Mean this trip begins at the Hawaian ticket counter in Seattle.

I only thought that there is now a parent company behind Alaska and Hawaiian, the two airlines will continue to operate as two separate brands, just like KLM and Air France do so in Europe, despite the corporate umbrella.

The crucible that is this combined airline operation really began to be obvious once I went through security.

As a Hawaiian commercial passenger on Monday’s flight, I got access to Alaska Lounge, choosing to visit the spacious advance of the competition n closest to the door.

Before the afternoon of the afternoon, the guests could choose between a breakfast buffet or visit the coffee bars and full service cocktails, whose last ones offered a conscockion narita banana ($ 9) cured for the inaugural flight.

Outside the window, the Hawaiian A330 was scheduled to fly the Tokyo route.

With a view to the plane, I met Anchorage, Alaska, the native of Matthew Sandoval, a “super fanatic” of Alaska who once had his tenth birthday party at an Alaska door, and since then he has been in more of the inaugural flights of the airline of what he can tell.

“Cincinnati, Columbus, Belize, Fort Myers, Jackson Hole, Anchorage, JFK,” he shook. “This is definitely different.”

Inaugural festivities

At the door, passengers and passersby found the entire pump and the circumstances that you would expect from an inaugural flight, from decoration to food and entertainment.

After a Taiko battery performance and a traditional Hawaiian blessing, Alaska and Hawaii executives cut the film that indicated that it was time to address.

In their seats, the passengers found some more commemorating tokens, from a bag label to a porcelain spokesman.

Product on board

The A330 of Hawaiian, this route, still wore all the touches you would expect in a Hawaiian plane, from members of the cabin crew in classic Hawaiian shirts to a on -board security video that showed landscapes of the state bykulele of Aloha.

It is also a more inherited cabin experience in general, with the product that ages a bit evident in the economy and the additional comfort sections of the aircraft.

While the business class cabin sacrifices the seats of lies, they are organized in a 2-2-2 configuration that lost competitiveness in a world of suites and universal access of direct corridors.

To be clear: the ability to sleep and sleep on a long flight beats any long -term motor seat.

But, compared to some of the new liss products that I have flown, the capsules in the Hawaii front cabin of Hawaii, certainly, are less modern, spacious and private, and lack many of the bells and whistles that you had made justify JustlineRed Justlinered Justlinered year ago.

That said, there may be an airplane update on the horizon.

“We are very excited that over time, let’s change our international flight here in Seattle to a Dreamliner 787 plane,” Joe Sprague, the new CEO of the Hawaiian Airlines brand, said on Monday.

Another news: executives suggested that those Dreamliner flights from Seattle to Tokyo and other long -distance destinations, ultimately, are operated by Alaska Itelf, not Hawaiian.

Starlink to ‘plus’ brake

Easily the most impressive feature aboard this A330 Hawaiian: the fast and free Wi-Fi Starlink that was available in shipping. Hawaiian has been the only American carrier offered by the Starlink service; He thought United Airlines will debut technology this week.

Business class experience

In the front, I settled in my seat in row 2 with the help of a hostess, which added a cover of the mattress to my seat, offering a little more filling before the night trip.

The members of the Hawaii cabin crew also brought a kind of “buffet” of the service kit, allowing him to take the products he wanted in the hand bag provided by the airline.

After a champagne glass prior to the game, a water cannon greeting from the first to respond by Seattle and a newborn take -off, Ha Flight 823 was heading to Asia.

Dinner on board

At cruise altitude, the on -board meal service allowed passengers to choose between a Hawaiian fusion or a Japanese menu for dinner.

I chose the last one, and found that the roast chicken with Umami sauce along the white rice and miso soup to be the highlight of the service on board, although the cheese cake for the dessert did not hurt either.

I also enjoyed the chicken and chow noodles of ginger that appeared about 90 minutes before landing in Narita, an arrival that arrived at 4:53 pm, after 10 hours and 45 minutes in the air.

How to reserve the new Seattle-Tokyo flight from Hawaiian

Travelers hopefully reserve the new flight of the Alaska Air Group operated in Hawaiiano from Seattle to Tokyo have some options.

• You can redeem Alaska Mileage Plan Miles or Hawaiianmiles Miles. Keep in mind that you can change your sewing miles between the two programs in the next two months, before the launch of a new joint loyalty program and both airline brands. So reserve your prize flight through the Whicever program sacrifices the best redemption.
• Travelers who need to increase the balance of the mileage plan can cover the points of Reards to Alaska in a 1: 1 relationship.
• For now, you can transfer the American express membership points to Hawaiianmiles and then (if you wish) move those miles about Alaska Milage Plan in a relationship: 1, he thought that he may want to act before the route.

Keep in mind that you can also use Alaska miles to fly through the Pacific in a variety of associated airlines from OneWorld Alliance also, including non -scales flights from the United States to Tokyo in Japan Airlines and American Airlines.

Seoul is the following … then Europe

Looking towards the future, Alaska’s long distance ambitions in Seattle go far beyond Tokyo.

TPG has already reported that Hawaian flights to Seoul, South Korea, will begin later this year. On Monday, the carrier confirmed that Europe’s flights will begin the second quarter of 2026.

He hopes to launch 12 long -distance international destinations from his be Hub for 2030.

But do not wait a third global center for brands (beyond Seattle and Honolulu) in the short term. “At least for the planned future, everything will be focused on Seattle,” Minicucci told me. “Beyond that, we’ll see.”

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