Alaska Airlines plans to introduce nonstop flights between Anchorage and Tokyo Narita in May 2027, marking its first direct service from its namesake state to Japan. Covering 3,433 miles in approximately eight hours, the route will be operated by a single-aisle Boeing 737 MAX 8 rather than one of the airline's larger twin-aisle aircraft.
The Tokyo service will operate daily from 13 May to 7 September 2027 before resuming three times weekly in January 2028. Three additional routes will link Anchorage with Austin, Dallas Fort Worth and Nashville on Saturdays from 12 June to 7 August 2027. All four services will use the MAX 8.
The aircraft's forward cabin offers domestic-style first-class recliners rather than the long-haul business-class product found on Alaska's larger aircraft. Although the Tokyo journey is lengthy, it does not rank among the world's ten longest MAX 8 routes. Alaska's own Seattle–Keflavik service is longer, at 3,622 miles.
The expansion builds on Alaska's Seattle–Narita service, launched in 2025, and its planned Seattle–Osaka route, also due to begin in May 2027. Competition on the new Anchorage routes is limited: American Airlines already serves Dallas Fort Worth, but Austin, Nashville and Tokyo Narita currently have no direct service from Anchorage.
The Anchorage–Tokyo connection also has historical significance. Several airlines used it as part of journeys requiring a refuelling stop in Anchorage into the early 1990s. The arrival of the Boeing 747-400 in 1989 allowed many carriers to bypass Anchorage and fly nonstop to Japan instead.
