Alaska Airlines had never flown a widebody in its 93-year history until September 2024. By the end of May 2026, the carrier was running three transatlantic routes out of Seattle, and two more European cities are already on the calendar for 2027. The story behind the speed is the Hawaiian Airlines merger, which handed Alaska a ready-made fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners plus the Leihōkū Suites premium cabin that came with them.

Each of the three new routes is a different kind of bet. London Heathrow launched May 21 as a daily, year-round 787-9 service — the serious commitment. Alaska is the fourth carrier on that corridor, facing British Airways, Delta, and Virgin Atlantic, but it has a connecting-traffic edge for passengers from West Coast cities like Portland, Boise, and Sacramento who can reach Europe without changing airlines. Rome Fiumicino, Alaska's first-ever transatlantic flight on April 28, runs daily but only seasonally through October 23 on a city pair nobody had served nonstop before. Delta quickly added four weekly flights in response, so demand apparently exists.

The third route is the odd one: Reykjavík, flown daily from May 28 to September 7 on a Boeing 737 MAX 8 — a narrowbody crossing the Atlantic. The logic is fleet math. With only a handful of 787s to cover London and Rome, Alaska dedicated one of its 300-plus 737 MAX 8s to the roughly 2,500-nautical-mile hop instead, which is barely longer than a US transcontinental flight. Bonus for 2026: the route is timed to the August 12 total solar eclipse, visible in totality from Iceland. Icelandair's 35-plus daily departures from Keflavik also turn the route into a budget-friendly gateway to dozens of European cities.

Coming in summer 2027: Athens from May 12 (three weekly, seasonal) — which will be Alaska's longest route ever and the only nonstop link between the US West Coast and Greece — and Paris CDG from May 25 (five weekly, seasonal), both on the 787-9. Beyond that, the airline hints at at least five more long-haul destinations from Seattle by 2030, with Seoul and Tokyo expected on the Asian side.

For travellers, this is genuinely good news. West Coast flyers get nonstop options to Europe that previously required connections through LA, San Francisco, or the East Coast — and Hawaii residents get a one-stop path to Rome through Seattle. The Leihōkū Suites business class, with lie-flat seats and direct aisle access in a 1-2-1 layout, holds up against Delta One and BA's Club Suite. A new flagship Alaska Lounge at Sea-Tac, billed as the largest in Seattle, opens in late 2027.

Worth watching: whether Rome goes year-round. If the first summer proves out, the equipment and gates are already in place.