Alaska Airlines Planning Europe Flights In 2026

Intro

A recent merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines has provided a unique opportunity for the once before, all-narrowbody airline. With the addition of plenty of Hawaiian Airlines widebodies, Alaska has announced that they will soon be serving Tokyo Narita, and now potentially Europe!

The Details

Alaska Airlines' CEO Ben Miniccuci, recently had the opportunity to speak and mentioned that "Europe is definitely on the radar for 2026". With Alaska Airlines set to launch direct flights from Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul as of May and September, we might see Alaska expand to its third continent by as early as next year.

Interestingly, Alaska Airlines has chosen the A330 to fly to Asia instead of the beautiful 787

Now here is where it gets interesting, as just before Ben Minicucci spoke, Delta had announced that it plans to bring back daily direct flights from Seattle to London this winter.

I hate to say it, but might we be beginning to see a bit of a long-haul turf war between these two airlines? My guess is that Alaska would come out victorious.

Another Long-Haul Option For Passengers...

With American Airlines extremely reducing their long-haul network, this has left consumers in the US with the options of United or Delta, primarily. However, what could it mean if Alaska was to fill in the gaps that American Airlines has left?

In my opinion, any competition is good for consumers since it typically drives the price down, and to extend this further, it seems like Delta is more in jeopardy here than United for a couple of reasons.

Going forward I would expect to see Alaska launch flights more directed towards the traditional "vacation destinations" such as London, Paris, Tokyo, and Seoul, but I don't expect them to focus on the China and Hong Kong routes. United is clearly focusing on these routes more at the moment than London and Tokyo (look at the additions to Hong Kong in the past year) and thus I think Delta might have to take a look at this.

All I know is that I would expect to see Alaska launch flights to Europe and potentially London or Paris as of 2026.

Final Thoughts

The CEO of Alaska Airlines, Ben Minicucci, has just announced that the airline is eyeing up Europe in 2026 following the launch of the airline's long-haul routes to Seoul and Tokyo. Delta could be in a bit of trouble here, as Seattle seems to be a big fortress hub for Alaska...