dailynewsnblog
In an intriguing move, 
Alaska Airlines may have intentionally or unintentionally revealed another long-haul destination. In the oneworld member’s new safety video for its Boeing 787-9s, clear reference was made to 
Sydney. The airline has been contacted for comment.
While the Australian city is served from Honolulu, with all flights now using the ‘AS’ IATA code, this surely cannot be what was meant. After all, all the references to other cities in the video are places that are, or will be, flown from Seattle, including London, Rome (which is its first European route, with flights starting on the day this article was written), Seoul, and so on.
Will Alaska Begin Seattle-Sydney Flights?
No one outside the airline and probably each airport, tourist, governments, and other bodies know. But it would be extraordinarily odd to include Sydney in the carrier’s brand-new safety video if it was not highly likely. After all, the production would have been signed off. It could not just be included by accident, and there would be no point mentioning it if flights were not coming (at some point).
It is, for now, pure speculation and interpretation. If 
Seattle flights do materialize, they would cover a considerable 6,725 nautical miles (7,739 statute miles; 12,455 km) each way. It would exceed Alaska’s current longest route, which is from Seattle to the capital of Italy, by a whopping 36%. It would become the Pacific Northwest city’s second-longest nonstop operation to date. It’d be behind Singapore-Seattle, which is served by Singapore Airlines.
94 Years In The Making: Alaska Airlines Debuts First Safety Video On 787 Long-Haul Routes
Alaska Airlines is preparing to launch its inaugural route to Europe, which it is marking with a six-minute onboard safety video.
Alaska Airlines included Sydney on slide 25 in an investor relations document from 2024. It also included various other cities that have not been announced yet, but, funnily enough, several that have been. The context was that Sydney’s location means it is better served from San Francisco or Los Angeles, but obviously not by Alaska.
While the advantage of flying from across the US to Sydney might be smaller via Seattle than via Los Angeles/San Francisco, many markets would be relatively well-placed. For example, flying Chicago-Seattle-Sydney would only be 2% longer than via Los Angeles. That’s the same difference if flying from Newark or New York JFK via Seattle. Even flying from Orlando would only be 6% longer.
What Are The Numbers Like?
According to booking data, approximately 83,000 people flew between Seattle and Australia from March 2025 to February 2026. Given no nonstop flights, it was a reasonably decent local market.
Obviously, Sydney was overwhelmingly the most popular city. It had 39,000 passengers, distantly followed by Melbourne (15,000) and Brisbane (12,000). Alaska could capture a chunk of this point-to-point traffic through fellow alliance member and codeshare partner Qantas. Flying to the capital of Victoria via New South Wales would be quicker than doing so via California.
Seattle was Sydney’s second-largest unserved US market, which provides another intriguing dimension. In fact, it is now technically first, as what was number one by the most local traffic (Las Vegas) will welcome Qantas later this year. Is it Seattle’s turn? Another curious factor is that Alaska has stated that it wants 12 long-haul destinations from Seattle by 2030. According to Cirium Diio data, it currently has five, as outlined in the table.
|
Seattle To… |
Alaska’s Operations In July 2026 |
|---|---|
|
Keflavik |
Daily 737 MAX 8 (begins May 28) |
|
London Heathrow |
Daily 787-9 (starts May 21) |
|
Rome |
Daily 787-9 (began April 28) |
|
Seoul Incheon |
Six weekly 787-9 |
|
Tokyo Narita |
Daily 787-9 |
If flights to Sydney do begin, a three-weekly service during the northern winter (southern summer) would probably be sensible. If they want the route to commence at the end of October, for example, expect an official announcement soon. This frequency means that Alaska would need to be less aggressively focused on lower-yielding connecting traffic via Seattle. Transit traffic would simply supplement higher-yielding point-to-point passengers to help to consistently fill aircraft.
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Perhaps It Is Not Surprising That Sydney Appeared…
Analysis of booking data for the 12 months to February 2026 indicates Seattle’s largest unserved long-haul markets. They include Delhi (129,000), Ho Chi Minh City (66,000), Bangkok (49,000), Bengaluru (47,000), Mumbai (45,000), Sydney (39,000), Athens (30,000), Madrid (29,000), and Lisbon (21,000).
Some of these cities (Bangkok, Delhi, Ho Chi Minh, Sydney) appeared as examples in Alaska’s investor relations document. This does not mean they will be served, not least because they’d be very long and, except for Sydney, do not have overly high fares, which reflects the lack of premium traffic. Perhaps this is also why Sydney appeared in the video.
When all cabins, passengers, and airlines are included, the average fare between Seattle and Sydney was US$1,560 one-way. In contrast, it was just $799 for Ho Chi Minh, $922 for Delhi, and $1,050 for Bangkok. However, Sydney flights would be longer and thus more expensive than those to Thailand and Vietnam. Nonetheless, the average fare per nautical mile was $0.23 for Sydney, against $0.12 for Ho Chi Minh and $0.16 for Bangkok.
