Alaska Airlines’ footprint is growing both domestically and internationally.
For years, the vast majority of Alaska’s routes have been West Coast–focused, with a handful of Central America destinations as well. Before the pandemic, the airline’s only international flights were to Mexico and Costa Rica, and since then, the carrier’s service has expanded to the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, and Guatemala.
But following the September acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, which gives Alaska access to Hawaiian’s fleet of longer-range aircraft, the Seattle-based carrier is planning to further grow its network and products, with several new domestic and international routes on the horizon, as well as plans for new lounges.
Alaska reports that it plans to serve at least 12 nonstop global destinations with long-haul wide-body aircraft from Seattle by 2030.
Here’s what’s next for Alaska Airlines.
Alaska Airlines’ new international routes
In 2025, Alaska will add new routes from Seattle–Tacoma to Japan’s Tokyo Narita International Airport and to South Korea’s Seoul Incheon International Airport.
You’ll have to wait until next autumn to fly on the new Alaska Airlines route between Seattle and Seoul.
Photo by Travel Take Photos/Shutterstock
The Tokyo route is slated to begin on May 12, 2025, and tickets are already available on alaskaair.com and hawaiianairlines.com. As for the flights between Seattle and Seoul, the airline has only said that service will start in October 2025. Additional details are expected to be released when flights go on sale in early 2025.
Both routes will operate on Airbus A330-200 aircraft, a high-capacity wide-body jet currently in Hawaiian Airlines’ fleet. (Alaska’s fleet contained only narrow-body jets prior to joining forces with Hawaiian.) The new flights will also make it easier for travelers to connect to other destinations in Asia through the airline’s oneworld Alliance partner, Japan Airlines.
Hawaiian already offers nonstop service between Honolulu and Tokyo Haneda International Airport, as well as to Japan’s Osaka and Fukuoka airports, and it will continue to fly those routes.
Beyond Seattle, Alaska also recently started new service from Los Angeles International Airport to La Paz International Airport in Baja California Sur, Mexico, on November 20. The airline will begin operating service from Los Angeles to Mexico’s Monterrey International Airport on February 13, 2025.
A new domestic route will get Alaska Airlines fliers directly to the slopes of Vail, Colorado.
Photo by Steve Boice/Shutterstock
Alaska’s new domestic routes and lounges
Also on the horizon are three new Alaska lounges at San Diego International Airport, Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport; the latter will have the airline’s new flagship international lounge. The timeline for when the lounges will open has not yet been announced. Alaska has existing lounges in Anchorage, Los Angeles, New York (JFK), Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle.
The three cities where the new lounges are planned are major hubs for Alaska and Hawaiian. Honolulu and Seattle are headquarter hubs for Hawaiian and Alaska, respectively, and as for San Diego, Alaska operates more flights from the Southern California city than any other airline (currently 39, though it will be 40 when Washington Dulles International Airport is added sometime in 2025).
Alaska has been increasing connectivity in San Diego in the past year, including a new route to Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), based just outside of Vail, the largest ski resort town in Colorado, with 5,289 acres for skiing and snowboarding, 33 chair lifts, and 193 designated trails. The new route started on December 20 and will wrap for the winter season on March 16, 2025. Currently, no other carrier operates flights between San Diego and Vail, giving Alaska a monopoly on the route.
Rich Hines, the managing director overseeing operations for Alaska in California and Latin America, told Afar the route “opens up a tremendous number of connections, not just from San Diego, but from elsewhere in our system,” noting that the additional flight paths help “connect dots and create opportunities to visit outdoor destinations.”
In 2025, Alaska will also welcome additional daily flights from San Diego to Maui and to Las Vegas.
