Getting to French Polynesia from the UK usually means routing through Paris or Los Angeles on Air Tahiti Nui. That's about to change. Alaska Airlines is launching a non-stop Seattle-Papeete service on 11 June 2027, operated by sister airline Hawaiian Airlines, and paired with Alaska's new London Heathrow-Seattle route starting in 2026, it gives UK travellers a fresh one-stop option to the South Pacific.
The year-round service runs three times a week between Seattle-Tacoma International and Tahiti-Faa'a International. Departures leave Seattle on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, returning from Papeete on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are bookable now via Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, though schedules remain subject to change.
The flying itself looks decent for a long haul. Hawaiian Airlines' Airbus A330s operate the route, with lie-flat Business Class suites and free high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi for eligible Atmos Rewards members, plus the airline's well-regarded onboard service.
What makes the route interesting beyond convenience is the stopover potential. Instead of treating Seattle as a transit corridor, you can build in a few days in the Pacific Northwest - coffee, mountains, Pike Place - before trading it for lagoons and overwater bungalows. It also fits alongside existing gateways at Los Angeles and San Francisco, so there's real flexibility in how you piece together an itinerary.
Once you land in Papeete, the destination is far bigger than the postcard image of one island. French Polynesia spreads across 118 islands and atolls, grouped into the Society Islands (Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora), the coral atolls of the Tuamotus, the remote Marquesas, plus the Gambier and Austral archipelagos. Tahiti and Moorea deliver dramatic volcanic peaks and green valleys, Bora Bora does the iconic overwater bungalow thing, the Tuamotus are the pick for divers and snorkellers, and the Marquesas - once home to Paul Gauguin - reward travellers willing to go further off-grid. It's a destination as much about Polynesian culture and slow island rhythms as it is about beaches.
Why it matters: for UK travellers the practical upshot is choice. Paris and LA routings aren't going anywhere, but a Heathrow-Seattle-Papeete combination adds a genuinely different way to break the journey, often with the bonus of a two-centre trip. If you've been pricing up French Polynesia and finding the flight options limiting, this opens the field considerably - and with more than a year until launch, it's a good reason to start planning rather than booking.
