Alaska Airlines Adds Seattle Flights to Osaka and Tahiti in Pacific Expansion

Seattle is gaining two glamorous new dots on its route map. Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have announced new international services linking Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with Osaka, Japan, and Papeete, Tahiti — a pairing that gives Pacific Northwest travellers a direct line to both a neon-lit Japanese metropolis and the lagoons of French Polynesia.

Widebody comfort on both routes

Both services will be flown with Airbus A330 widebody aircraft, the long-haul workhorses of the Hawaiian Airlines fleet, offering a roomier cabin than the narrowbody jets Alaska is best known for. The routes will operate year-round, extending Hawaiian’s existing Osaka and Papeete flying beyond its Honolulu hub and giving West Coast passengers a one-stop alternative through Seattle instead of backtracking through Hawaii.

Introductory fares

To mark the launch, the airlines are selling special introductory round-trip Main Cabin fares from Seattle: from $999 to Papeete and from $1,199 to Osaka. The promotional booking window is short — October 20 through October 26, 2026 — and fares are subject to availability and conditions, so deal hunters will need to move quickly and check the fine print on travel dates before paying.

Part of a bigger plan

The expansion is another step in the combined group’s “Alaska Accelerate” strategy, which aims to grow its international reach and cement Seattle’s status as a global gateway to the Pacific. Both routes remain subject to government approval, and schedules can change, but the direction of travel is clear: Seattle is being built into a genuine transpacific hub. For travellers, that means more nonstop choice to Asia and the South Pacific — and, with luck, healthier competition on fares across the region.

Source: Aviation A2Z