Hawaiian Airlines has set a date for its eagerly anticipated flights from Seattle to the South Korean capital city of Seoul.
As marketed by the wider Alaska Air Group, of which the carrier became a subsidiary last year following a merger, these services will commence in September, with Hawaiian Airlines joining three other established carriers on the route as it looks to increase its West Coast presence.
Starting in September
As detailed in Simple Flying's coverage at the time, the Alaska Air Group revealed in December that it would be launching long-haul routes from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport(SEA) to Seoul Incheon (ICN) and Tokyo Narita (NRT).
Using widebodies operated by its new subsidiary in Hawaiian Airlines, the launch of these routes looked to capitalize on demand in both the leisure and business sectors.
At the time of this unveiling, it was known that the Tokyo route would commence on May 12th, 2025, but the prognosis for Seoul Incheon International Airport was more vague, with October targeted as a starting month.
Now, the Alaska Air Group has officially confirmed that Hawaiian Airlines' flights from Seattle to Seoul will actually begin slightly earlier, on September 12th of this year. Commenting on the timing of the launch of the new route, the Alaska Air Group explained that:
"The new service between Seattle and Seoul Incheon will take flight just before the start of Chuseok, also known as Korean Thanksgiving Day - one of the nation’s most important and festive holidays. It takes place in early October this year, allowing travelers to visit with family and friends in South Korea with Hawaiian’s award-winning service and hospitality."
A competitive market
Hawaiian Airlineswill initially operate its non-stop flights from Seattle to Seoul and back five times a week, with westbound services departing at 15:25 from Wednesday through to Sunday.
Crossing the international date line en route, they are scheduled to arrive at 18:50 the next day, before departing at 20:50 after a two-hour turnaround. This will see them arrive back in Seattle at 15:00 local time on the same day, allowing onward connections on afternoon and evening flights.
As it happens, Hawaiian Airlines will be far from alone on this busy and competitive transpacific corridor. Indeed, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company, three other airlines will be flying non-stop from Seattle to Seoul on a daily basis this September.
These are Asiana (with Boeing 777-200LRs), Delta Air Lines (with Airbus A350-900s), and Korean Air (with Boeing 787-10s). Still, Alaska Airlines' CCO Andrew Harrison remains confident ahead of the route's launch, stating that:
"With our robust network, we can connect our guests through our global gateway in Seattle for convenient nonstop service to Seoul and Tokyo, with additional connections to other Asian destinations with our global partners. As we grow our global network from Seattle in the coming years, we’ll announce new international routes to dynamic destinations that we know our guests are going to love to visit."
What's it like onboard?
Hawaiian Airlines will initially operate these flights, which are bookable both via its own website and that of Alaska Airlines, using Airbus A330-200 widebody twinjets.
Current data made available by aeroLOPA shows that these twin-aisle aircraft have 278 seats onboard, with the best spots being the 18 business class flatbeds laid out in three six-abreast (2-2-2) rows at the front of the plane.
Of the 260 economy class seats, 68 are designated as 'Extra Comfort' with five inches more legroom.
Further down the line, although an exact timeline has not been specified, Hawaiian Airlines plans to swap the Airbus A330-200 widebodies on this route for its newer Boeing787-9 'Dreamliner' twinjets.
According to aeroLOPA, these modern aircraft have 34 business class flatbeds onboard, with this cabin offering a more favorable four-abreast (1-2-1) configuration where every seat offers direct aisle access. There are also 266 economy class seats, of which 79 have extra legroom.
