Big travel plans are taking off at Alaska Airlines.
The Seattle-based carrier is undertaking an aggressive expansion plan to add even more international flights, increase its fleet by dozens of planes, and grow its network of premium lounges over the next few years.
The airline, which combined operations with Hawaiian Airlines starting in 2024, is on a mission to be among the largest carriers in the United States.
“We are in an incredible time,” the airline’s COO Jason Berry said in an interview with Seattle news station KOMO. “Alaska Airlines is growing and growing rapidly with the merger with Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska. We’re now a global airline and ready to compete to be the fourth largest U.S. international airline.”
Alaska Airlines’ international route expansion is already well underway. Over the last year, the carrier has been busy adding nonstop service from Seattle to Rome, Seoul, London, Reykjavik, and Tokyo.
The route to Tokyo’s Narita Airport (NRT) launched in spring 2025 with daily flights and has been a strong performer for the airline, with a 90% load factor.
“That route is already profitable in less than a year,” Berry said. “International flights take a long time to build up, and we’re just encouraged by the demand.”
The carrier is planning to announce even more international routes this fall.
To serve its growing international network, Alaska is using Boeing 787 Dreamliners outfitted with a completely new business class suites concept.
The airline currently operates five Dreamliner planes, with another one expected for delivery in the fall and a seventh of the widebody aircraft planned to launch in early 2027. Four more 787s are slated to join the fleet in 2028, according to Berry.
Alaska also placed an order for 105 Boeing 737 Max 10 planes, which along with the upcoming Dreamliners, makes up the carrier’s largest-ever aircraft order.
“You don’t do that lightly,” Berry said of the fleet expansion. “We have about 400 jets today at Alaska and Hawaiian combined, and by 2035 we’ll have 550 airplanes, and a lot of that will be made up of Boeing aircraft.”
In addition to more international routes and a bigger fleet, Berry said that passengers can also expect additional lounges and more premium options, too.
In terms of the carrier’s global expansion, it seems no destination around the world is off limits.
“I hope we’ll be on five or six continents by the time we’re done,” Berry said.
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