This May, Alaska Air Cargo and Hawaiian Air Cargo will launch a new global shipping gateway out of Seattle, expanding long-haul airfreight opportunities for the international cargo market. New daily nonstop service on Hawaiian Airlines widebody aircraft between Seattle (SEA) and Tokyo Narita, Japan (NRT) will begin May 12, 2025, and nonstop service between Seattle and Seoul Incheon, South Korea (ICN) will start in September.
An enhanced domestic network with greater belly-cargo capacity for Alaska Air Cargo and Hawaiian Air Cargo will also launch this March. Shipments throughout our 130-city global network can be booked across both carriers on one air waybill (AWB) starting in March.
The new global nonstop routes build on Hawaiian’s 15 years of experience connecting key U.S. and Japanese markets and Alaska Airlines’ strong presence on the West Coast. Our Seattle hub serves more than 100 destinations across North America. The growth of our global network also leverages our strength as the only U.S.-based combination aircraft carrier to offer belly-cargo capacity and dedicated freighter service for cargo customers.
“Together, Alaska Air Cargo and Hawaiian Air Cargo serve three times more connecting markets than either of us could reach alone. With our combined team’s expertise across the Pacific to Asia, as well as connecting the West Coast across the country, we are poised to support customers around the world in ways we simply couldn’t before.”
— Ian Morgan, Vice President of Cargo, Alaska Airlines
What our customers can look forward to in 2025
DOMESTIC NETWORK GROWTH:
- Expanded cargo capacity between the West Coast and Hawaii: Three of our six daily nonstop flights between Seattle and Honolulu will be on our widebody A330 Hawaiian Airlines aircraft, increasing cargo capacity. Daily widebody service between Seattle and Maui will also be offered year-round.
- Increased widebody capacity for the Alaska fishing season: During the peak summer season — between June 12 and August 15, 2025 — we’ll deploy Hawaiian A330 aircraft between Seattle and Anchorage twice daily to take advantage of the aircraft’s larger cargo capacity. In addition, during summer 2025, Alaska Airlines aircraft will fly at least 18 daily roundtrips between Seattle and Anchorage, as well as nonstop service to 15 other destinations including Los Angeles, Portland, New York JFK, Detroit, Chicago, Phoenix, Denver and more.
- New shipping options between the Bay Area and the Islands: We’re adding new nonstops on Alaska Airlines between San Francisco and both Kona on Hawai‘i Island and Līhu‘e on Kauaʻi. San Francisco-Kona service will be four times a week and San Francisco-Līhuʻe will be three times a week starting in mid-June. With these new flights, Alaska and Hawaiian together will offer daily nonstop flights to the four main Hawaiian Islands from San Francisco, one of our key West Coast hubs.
- Streamlined schedules to facilitate connections between the East Coast and Hawai’i: We are adding four new overnight flights between Hawai’i and the West Coast, improving connections for time-sensitive shipments from Hawai’i across the country.
- Maintaining capacity between Southern California and Hawai’i: We will have two daily flights between Maui and San Diego and will have four daily flights between Los Angeles and Honolulu — three of them on Hawaiian widebody aircraft.
GLOBAL NETWORK GROWTH:
- New international shipping options: Our daily nonstop international route from Seattle to Tokyo (NRT) starts May 12, 2025, and we will begin Wednesday-through-Sunday service between Seattle and Seoul (ICN) on September 12 — creating our first long-haul airfreight opportunities between the continental U.S. and Asia.
- Continued shipping opportunities between Honolulu and destinations across Japan: We will offer more flying options between Honolulu and Tokyo Haneda (HND) — one of the two international airports in Japan’s capital — by increasing Hawaiian Airlines’ service to twice daily, growing from 12 to 14 flights a week. Hawaiian will also continue to offer nonstop service between Honolulu and both Osaka and Fukuoka for a total of 24 weekly roundtrips between Hawaiʻi and Japan.
CARGO OPERATIONS IMPROVEMENTS:
- Streamlined operations at stations: We have started co-locating our cargo operations at stations served by both Alaska Air Cargo and Hawaiian Air Cargo, allowing customers of both airlines to pick up and drop off shipments at a single location. Our stations in New York (JFK) and Seattle (SEA) have already combined locations, and stations in Lihu’e and Maui will begin co-locating this month. Sign up for our email communications for updates on station moves and other operations.
- Seamless booking across both Alaska Air Cargo and Hawaiian Air Cargo: Our streamlined booking process will be available this spring — in time to book shipments on our newest international routes and between carriers to enable shipping across both networks.
About Alaska Air Cargo and Hawaiian Air Cargo
Together, Alaska Air Cargo and Hawaiian Air Cargo reach 130-plus cargo destinations around the world. With more than 90 years of experience carrying vital shipments to remote communities, our air cargo teams share deep connections to the communities where we live, work and fly.
Learn more: Alaska Air Cargo | Hawaiian Air Cargo
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Note: This story was updated April 15, 2025, with new dates for the start of service between Seattle and Seoul (ICN).
