During Alaska Air Group’s investor day presentation, where the group unveiled its latest plans under ‘Alaska Accelerate,’ the company shared its vision for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
(SEA), which will become the group’s hub for international travel.
$1.5 billion revenue contribution
On December 10, during 
Alaska Air Group’s
investor day, when the company unveiled the ‘Alaska Accelerate’ plan and its financial targets in 2025 and 2027, the company also detailed its plans for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
The company said that Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-200
aircraft would begin flights from Seattle to Tokyo Narita International Airport
(NRT) in May 2025, while itineraries to Seoul Incheon International Airport
(ICN) will be launched in October 2025.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
On flights between Seattle and Tokyo-Narita, which will be operated by Hawaiian Airlines, it will compete against another 
oneworld
airline, Japan Airlines
. However, data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that All Nippon Airways
(ANA) and 
Delta Air Lines
have daily flights between Seattle and Tokyo Haneda Airport
(HND).
Meanwhile, Asiana Airlines
, Korean Air
, and Delta Air Lines operate itineraries from Seattle to Seoul-Incheon, with each airline offering daily flights to its passengers on the route.
Nevertheless, Alaska Airlines outlined that its goal was to offer at least 12 non-stop global destinations by 2030, with its long-haul intercontinental network contributing $1.5 billion in revenue.
“Our new widebody service between Seattle and Tokyo Narita enables us to right-size our capacity between Hawaiʻi and Japan, a market that has experienced a weaker leisure travel demand in the wake of the pandemic.”
According to Andrew Harrison, the chief commercial officer (CCO) of Alaska Air Group, since Hawaiian Airlines has already served Tokyo-Narita – from Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
(HNL) – the group expects that flights to Tokyo would be materially profit accretive to its combined network already in year one.
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The group will reposition Airbus A330 widebodies from the Hawaiian Airlines fleet to Seattle for the new flights next year.
Leveraging Portland to enable Seattle’s international growth
The group also outlined the benefits of Seattle as an international hub, noting that the airport was closer to 90% of the world’s population than San Francisco International Airport
(SFO) and Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX).
As a result, faster itinerary times and lower operating costs will give Alaska Airlines an advantage over its competition on flights to potential destinations such as the two aforementioned Asian cities, Bangkok, Delhi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila, and European airports, such as those located in London, Paris, and Rome.
Photo: Alaska Air Group
Overall, the group aims to improve its hub structure in Seattle and at Portland International Airport
(PDX), whereby by adjusting banking, it will offer four times more one-stop connections with improved schedules from the latter airport.
As a result, this should unlock new pools of demand for Alaska Air Group, with Seattle’s addressable North American guests growing by 20% to 35.5 million and unique origin and destination pairs in Portland (potentially increasing by 277%) and Seattle (42%).
Harrison stated that Portland would be acting as a lever to free up Seattle for more high-value international connecting traffic as well as the ever-expanding local market in Seattle.
Furthermore, Alaska Air Group will offer more connecting seats and destinations from Seattle than its competitors at the airport or at the other two large US West Coast hubs in August 2025.
Related
Alaska Airlines Group expects $500 million of revenue and cost benefits from the merger by 2027.
Potential destinations
Harrison noted that Seattle and the general Pacific Northwest region is the sixth-largest market in terms of demand for Asia and Oceania in the US and the tenth-largest market from the US to Europe.
“When you add our loyal guests from the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, the pool of demand just gets even larger. We are now talking about a 1 million passenger demand pool for Asia and 1.3 million for Europe.”
The CCO highlighted that for airports that do not have direct connections with Asia, such as Boise Airport (BOI), Kansas City International Airport
(MCI), or San Antonio International Airport (SAT), Seattle was much better for serving connecting guests, “becoming that top choice, creating an opportunity for us to capture that incremental pool of demand” in the middle part of the US.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
However, some of these destinations that the group outlined already have plenty of competition. For example, there are three airlines offering at least one daily flight between Seattle and London Heathrow Airport
(LHR), including 
British Airways
(double daily), Delta Air Lines, and Virgin Atlantic
, in August 2025, during the peak summer season.
Air France
and Delta Air Lines serve Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport
(CDG) with daily flights each, while Philippine Airlines
offers three weekly rotations to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL).
At the same time, with Alaska Air Group leveraging its strong position in the region, it could very well serve destinations in Asia, particularly India. According to Greater Seattle Partners, 131,000 Indians live around the city, with Seattle-based businesses continuously growing their foreign direct investment (FDI) into India.
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