Boeing 737-8 Enables Alaska Airlines Nonstop Route from Anchorage to Tokyo
The addition of the Boeing 737-8 airplanes allowed Alaska Airlines to incorporate longer flights, such as a nonstop Anchorage-to-New York route that debuted in 2024.
Photo Credit: Alaska Airlines
The newest nonstop routes from Alaska Airlines connect Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) with Dallas, Austin, and Nashville. More importantly, the airline announced its first overseas flight out of Anchorage in nearly three decades, with flights to Narita International Airport (NRT) in Tokyo starting next May.
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“Alaska Airlines has connected Alaskans to the people and places that matter since 1932, and we’re thrilled to connect Alaska and Japan,” says Marilyn Romano, the airline’s Regional Vice President for Alaska. “This long-requested route will open new opportunities for tourism and commerce, bringing our distinctive hospitality to more travelers and strengthening our growing global network.”
Alaska Airlines plans to launch nonstop service between ANC and NRT on May 13, 2027. The route will operate daily in the summer through September 7, 2027, and three times weekly in the winter, beginning January 2028. Tickets are currently available, but the Alaska Airlines website notes that the route is pending government approval.
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The route would be the first nonstop Alaska-to-Asia service since China Airlines flew from Anchorage to Taipei in 2011. The flight to Tokyo covers about 3,400 miles, surpassing Anchorage to New York City as the airline’s longest leg, and is about 8 hours, 15 minutes long. The aircraft is configured with 16 recliner seats in first class and 145 economy seats, including six rows sold as Premium.
“Our ambitions are global, but our foundation remains the same. From the beginning, Alaska Airlines has connected communities across Alaska, the West Coast, and beyond,” says Romano. “From Anchorage to Tokyo and destinations around the globe, we’re building on that legacy and giving our guests more ways to explore the world with Alaska Airlines.”
Of course, the route goes both ways, as Governor Mike Dunleavy notes. “The people of the state of Alaska are ready to welcome leisure and business travelers to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines. As the only US domestic carrier serving Tokyo with scheduled service, the opportunities to see the Northern Lights or visit Denali National Park are closer than ever,” says Dunleavy. “We also appreciate the many resource and business partnerships in Japan and see those ties strengthening in the future with easy, nonstop flights.”
Alaska Airlines hasn’t flown to Asia since 1998, when it served routes to the Russian Far East from Anchorage.
The new route is made possible by the MAX 8 airframe, which has a longer range than Alaska Airlines’ new MAX 10; it’s the only 737 in the Alaska Airlines fleet capable of serving this route. The newer airframe also skirts a problem that blocked New Pacific Airlines when the startup carrier attempted in 2022 to revive international passenger flights from Anchorage with refurbished Boeing 757-200s. Those aircraft needed special permits for long-haul operations, made longer by the closure of Russian airspace after the invasion of Ukraine, so New Pacific only got as far as redecorating a passenger lounge in ANC’s North Terminal.
The launch of the Tokyo route anchors another expansion of Alaska Airlines’ Anchorage network in 2027, including new seasonal nonstop service to Nashville, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth. Together, the new routes create the largest nonstop schedule from the state of Alaska in the airline’s history.