Alaska Airlines will fly daily between Anchorage and Tokyo Narita from May 13 to September 7, 2027, using a Boeing 737 MAX 8 on the 3,434-mile route.
Great write up! It's definitely route of the year being a medium sized city in continental US to Asia Pacific on single-aisle. Here's a cool range map with payload/wind variables: https://www.gcpromap.com/gallery/alaska-anchorage-tokyo-737-max-8/
Really curious as to what fares will be like on this routing and if anyone originating in SeaTac will see cheaper routings via ANC vs non-stop.
We now live in a world where you can fly Alaska Airlines BWI-SEA-SAN-HNL-ANC-NRT
Have you considered doing a challenge? I'd be perfect to add the Island Hopper haha
@ lucky: yes, NRT-ROR-GUM-island hopper-mainland! If you started in UBN, how many non-backtracking United 737 segments could you string together?
Is the target customer seafood in the hold Westbound, Japanese Alaska cruiseship customers East bound?
I would definitely imagine that JAL/AA/AS has cruise ship traffic in mind for this flight, as well as cargo.
A bunch of Alaska cruises are one-way to/from Seattle/Vancouver. This flight would allow nonstop flights at both ends of a cruise.
Seafood (live lobsters) was the main reason for 2x daily Emirates flights to Boston, so why not Alaska?
This is the same reason for all their summer Saturday-only markets (including the newly added AUS, BNA and DFW). Easy to connect to cruises; if you take it one-way you can fly back from Seattle or if you do round-trip you can take a nonstop on both Saturdays
"as well as cargo"
They're already going to have to block 3-4 rows of passengers, to reliably make the westbound segment of this flight, during winter. So it's very unlikely that cargo is a big consideration here.
I would assume that Asian tourists to Alaska and Alaskans visiting Asia are the main target customers for this flight. I doubt there will be tons of extra cargo weight available in a 737 flying from Anchorage to Tokyo, especially since that's against the wind.
This would be quite an experience to fly on. I hope it does well.
There's also a significant Filipino population in Alaska, so they can easily save additional travel time by flying westbound and then connecting on Japan or Philippine Airlines to make their way down rather than backtracking east towards the mainland and adding an additional connection or two.
I was surprised to learn there's also a sizable SEAsian population in Greenland. I'm taking the United flight to Nuuk next summer. Found 40k UA saver miles from HNL-GOH! (HNL-LAX-EWR-GOH)
I also remember Ben taking a taxi in Norway I think was years ago and had a Filipino driver!
Yeah, I have a good memory.
that really is a cool new route.
Complete conjecture here and perhaps a little too wild of a thought but still...
United has shown the value of a MAX at Narita and the ability to do some routes more easily vs NH.
United does that via their Guam hub.
It's worth noting that, if AS joins the Pacific JV, I assume AS could have the ability to run some NRT-Small Asia dots in the same manner as United? Since Delta isn't using their 5th freedom at Narita, you have to figure it might be available to Alaska though I fully admit I'm not well-versed on those rights.
It seems like a really easy 4-5 day trip for an ANC-based flight crew.
JAL at NRT is pretty ripe for some extra Asia dots with a better LOPA/plane.
the US and Japan have Open Skies. What DL does or does not do at NRT has no bearing on whether rights are available to any other carrier.
Yes, AS could operate intra-Asia for oneworld with the 737MAX.
Meanwhile, KE operates most intra-Asia from ICN on widebodies, including to destinations that UA serves on the MAX.
Aren't you just monitoring the comments for my reply with an immediate response...
"Meanwhile, KE operates most intra-Asia from ICN on widebodies, including to destinations that UA serves on the MAX."
As ever... your ability to bring every topic back to Delta is unsurpassed. 😉
But to your point.
KE doesn't fly to KHH -- they Codeshare with China Airlines. China appears to primarily use an A321
And the domestic configured A330 KE runs to CEB & UBN are nicer than a max, sure. but again... we're talking about customers that may want to fly OneWorld to those locations (and frankly, Delta has the worst alliance loyalty on the West Coast, by far, so there's room for OneWorld to expand their dots to Asia) and the MAX is a great plane for that and it's a unique ability United and Alaska (potentially) can do. NRT is a better geographically placed hub from the US West Coast since there isn't backtracking, unlike ICN.
It's a unique opportunity for Alaska.
Regardless, ANC-NRT is a really cool route.
you didn't have to spout off with an incorrect statement about traffic rights.
and just because you manage to find a route that UA uniquely serves from NRT doesn't change my statement. KE serve a number of destinations from ICN down the Pacific Rim and in Asia on widebodies
If I am not mistaken, US carriers have a hard 8 hour day at the controls which means AS will have to have 2 sets of pilots with deadheading in at best a domestic first class seat.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/section-117.11 - links to Table A, which says that for flights where the flight crew report time is between 0500-1959 they may go up to 9 hours on a minimum crew.
Ahh Timmy is wrong again, you are mistaken - its a 9 hour limit with that flight time. You could have easily googled this but you didn't - proud of you Timmy!
"If I am not mistaken" followed by a response from a real pilot, not you.
None of which changes that United is a weaker carrier and AS might actually provide more of a challenge to UA with this and other TPAC routes than to DL.
Give up your incessant need to fire back at people who tell you the truth you don't want to hear.
Or get the help you desperately need. There are lots of good meds out there.
Timmy, some of us do basic research before writing comments, you just proved that you don't - hence why you are so often proven incorrect.
And lol I love how you think this is a threat to United more than its a threat to you know Delta who just launched SEA-NRT hahahahaha. Yeah all those Alaskans were flying United to Japan... I mean honestly its a competitive threat to all US airlines who fly to Japan, I just imagine its a bit worse for those with the closest hubs to Alaska lol.
"Give up your incessant need to fire back at people who tell the truth" - bro you just lied and admitted it.
you manipulate and live in an incessant state of confusion so it is no surprise that you lash out at stuff that you don't even understand.
I know it has been rough ever since UA announced its earnings that shows it burned $2 billion in cash and could make as little as 20% of what DL will make in the 4th quarter, but the threat to UA is if AS adds intra-Asia flights on the 737MAX which most directly would challenge UA.
that guidance that UA told investors is just plain horrid.
There is nothing "cool" about spending 8+ hours in a 737, period. End of discussion.
If I lived in Anchorage and wanted to go to Tokyo I would much rather by a first class ticket on an 8 hour Alaska 737 than pay twice as much for a business class ticket on Delta connecting in Seattle which would take about 16 hours. It’s a no brainer.
I'd rather spend eight hours on an American-made Boeing than five minutes aboard an A350 stinking of French worker body odor and hubris.
How about ordering MAX 7 to fly from ANC to ICN, PUS, KIX, etc.?😆 It'll be exactly like what Northern Pacific dreamed of in a smaller scale.
I've just looked at Alaska website and could find JFK-ANC-NRT which I think is the world's longest all-737 itinerary.. Someone should try it as a challenge!
You could do a bit farther by doing KEF-ANC-NRT if you just really hate your back and legs. - lol
Looks like it's 200k points for business from SFO -> ANC -> NRT, which is indeed cheaper than SFO -> SEA -> NRT (although the latter is a better product for most of the journey.)
That said, it's all 50% of the price of a Delta One redemption, so a win is a win.
You, Ben, would love to fly this? An 8hr15m flight on a 737? Even up front I don't see you ever doing this...and I say this with nothing but love 🙂
You say this like it's some daunting task.
It's only an hour longer than the LAS/PHX to HNL flights that Southwest and American 737/A321s already fly every day.
I'm saying it's daunting for Ben...who in this article said he would love to fly this LOL
Don't worry Max, Timmy spouted off with an incorrect statement about flight crew requirements. He is wrong on so many things, so often!
sucks to realize, Andy, that DL might make 5X more than UA in the 4th quarter
and DL, like WN, won't trash its balance sheet taking delivery of new aircraft that it can't fly because of high fuel prices.
at least AS is swinging for the rafters with its plan to fly its MAXs all hours of the day and night - never mind if they will lose all kinds of money at high fuel prices.
I see tim found his ignorant voice again after a few drinks…
“and DL, like WN, won't trash its balance sheet taking delivery of new aircraft that it can't fly because of high fuel prices.”
Tell us about delta’s planned delivery deferrals, tim
You seem to be ahead of delta investor relations lol
“sucks to realize, Andy, that DL might make 5X more than UA in the 4th quarter”
Tim,
Gaap or non-gaap taking only the unprofitable parts of Trainer (keeping the fuel benefit) off the table to make their margins seems better vs United?
What will you do if delta isn’t 5x as profitable on pre tax margin, gaap, vs united in 4q26?
How about you promise to send a copy of your drivers license to lucky so he can verify your claim that your real name is tim Dunn?
We all know you’re lying about that, but put your license where your mouth is.
I’m happy to do the same if you’re right, I will send a copy of my license to lucky to prove my name isn’t Max Power 😉
If you’re so sure, you should be fine backing up your dumb drunk statements.
Everyone saying “7–8 hours in a narrowbody”—would you prefer 3.5 hours in a narrowbody to Seattle, then another 10–11 hours to Narita?
Or if you’re flying MNL-ANC, 14 hours on PR (MNL-SEA) followed by 3.5 hours on AS (SEA-ANC)? I’d take 4.5 hours on JL (MNL-NRT) followed by 7 hours on AS (NRT-ANC) ten times out of ten.
As an Alaskan, I welcome this addition. I'd rather take this than flying down to Seattle.
If you want to go to Iceland do you fly a widebody to Europe and then backtrack to KEF? No! You hop in your little Airbus A321 on Icelandair and you save half the travel time.
There's a surprisingly large amount of tourism traffic from Asia to Alaska, and this nonstop saves 8+ hours of travel time via a West Coast hub. Similarly anyone based in ANC that wants to travel to Asia can now fly and connect on JAL, again far quicker than flying back down to SEA first.
For us L48ers there's not much of a need to take a flight like this... and that's perfectly OK. Unless you're a real sicko like Ben.
Clearly AS must be feeling confident about the route given it's scheduled for daily service (and will operate 3x weekly next winter)
Exactly. This route is for Alaskans and Asians, not us from the lower 48. And, for them, it really is a great option compared to the existing alternatives, especially since JAL can provide onward connections.
Most people fly economy class and this flight would be not much different from a Boeing 707 and the individual seat comfort not much different from a 787 or A350. The biggest difference is no IFE screens but just bring a paper notebook and pen as well as a newspaper.
What would the pitch have been on that NW 707 you reference? Definitely a tad better than a squished AS 737. And then there's the meal service. C'mon, the halcyon days were the halcyon days.
So you can have a NRT-ANC-JFK itinerary, all on a narrow body.
It would be a cool route to fly. You just need very good lower back insurance.
While not as cool (or nearly as important for Alaskans and Asians) as the ANC-NRT route, they also announced another only slightly (200 miles) shorter route at the same time: ANC to Nashville. Also AUS and DFW. All three of those will only be 1x weekly during peak summer season, though. Still, as a BNA-based traveler, non-stop BNA to ANC is a pretty cool new option to have in the summer. Though, to be honest, I might still consider connecting through Atlanta on Delta to get a widebody instead of a 737.