Officials from the Port of Portland, which manages Portland International Airport
(PDX), have unveiled that they will meet with representatives of Delta Air Lines and Korean Air, as well as Japan Airlines, to potentially launch a direct connection between Portland and Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Tokyo.
Focusing on flights to Seoul
In an update during a December Port Commission meeting on December 11, David Zielke, the Director of Air Service Development of the Port of Portland, said that the organization’s primary focus was Korean Air’s hub at Seoul Incheon International Airport
(ICN), which would be the potential gateway to the rest of Asia.
“Our primary focus right now is trying to get a non-stop with a
SkyTeam
partner, it could be Delta [Air Lines], it could be Korean Air.”
Photo: viper-zero | Shutterstock
Zielke noted that Delta Air Lines and Korean Air have a joint venture (JV) similar to the one on flights to Europe, with Air France, Delta Air Lines, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic launching the partnership in February 2020.
The US-based carrier also launched an extensive codeshare agreement with 
SAS
in September. However, the codeshare mainly revolves around flights from/to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
(ATL), Boston Logan International Airport
(BOS), Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX), New York John F. Kennedy International Airport
(JFK), and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
(SEA).
Related
Delta & SAS Enhance Codeshare Partnership As Part Of SkyTeam
SAS will place its code on Delta flights to 150 destinations in North America.
Praising Seoul Incheon
Nevertheless, Zielke remarked that Seoul-Incheon is unmatched when it comes to connectivity throughout Asia. The executive also stated that the Port of Portland was further along in discussions with SkyTeam and its airlines due to the port’s historic relationship with 
Delta Air Lines
, which included non-stop flights to Seoul-Incheon that the carrier launched in 1987.
“So, the hub of choice is [Seoul-Incheon], it has great connectivity beyond, and we are thrilled with what they could offer our customers.”
Photo: Parkdolly | Shutterstock
The Air Service Development director also mentioned that the port’s representatives met Japan Airlines
officials at Routes World 2024 in Bahrain, with Zielke stating that getting direct service to Tokyo, Japan, and/or Seoul, South Korea, were the main priorities on Portland International’s Asia-bound network.
According to Zielke, Port officials will continue meeting with Japan Airlines and Delta Air Lines. The latter should facilitate a meeting with Korean Air’s
executives, which should hopefully happen sometime in Q1 2025.
At the same time, Zielke said that while Alaska Airlines, which recently acquired Hawaiian Airlines, now has Hawaiian-operated widebody aircraft – Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 787-9 – the group did not indicate any plans to add any long-haul flying from Portland.
On December 10, 
Alaska Air Group
unveiled its ‘Alaska Accelerate’ plan, which included new, direct routes from Seattle-Tacoma to Seoul-Incheon and Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) in 2025. Hawaiian’s
A330-200s will operate the flights.
Related
Alaska Airlines Group expects $500 million of revenue and cost benefits from the merger by 2027.
Unfavorable Seattle connections
Zielke concluded that travelers prefer to avoid grabbing connecting flights in Seattle. While passengers are forced to due to an absence of direct flights from Portland, “flying over to Seattle is not something that our community wants.”
“They want non-stop flights, so that is going to be our continued focus.”
Interestingly, Alaska Airlines’ newest plans included making Seattle-Tacoma its central international hub, with Portland acting as a lever to free up Seattle for more high-value international connecting traffic.
Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that Portland has not had a direct flight to any Asian destination since February 2020, when Delta Air Lines stopped flying from Portland International to Tokyo-Narita.
Photo: Channing Reid | Simple Flying
The last time that Portland had a direct flight to an Asian airport other than Tokyo-Narita was in March 2001, when Northwest Airlines, which merged with Delta Air Lines in 2008, last flew to Nagoya Chubu Centrair International Airport (NGO).
Nevertheless, while Zielke briefed that transatlantic flights were at an all-time high, Asia-bound passengers from Portland are 21% below pre-pandemic levels. According to the executive, Southeast Asia was the only market where passenger numbers surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with 115 travelers flying from the airport to Southeast Asia daily (2019: 114).
Meanwhile, on flights from Portland to China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, daily passengers are below levels in 2019, which includes a very steep drop on itineraries to China: from 76 daily travelers in 2019 to 22 in 2024.
Related
Korean Air Completes Asiana Acquisition With 63.88% Stake
After more than four years, Korean Air has finally gained control of Asiana Airlines.
