Alaska Airlines to Fly Anchorage to Tokyo Narita Nonstop on a 737 MAX 8 From May 2027

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, United States, 27 October 2026 – Alaska Airlines will launch its first nonstop flights between Anchorage and Tokyo Narita next spring, using a Boeing 737 MAX 8, the airline said on Tuesday. The route is subject to government approval, according to Alaska’s announcement, and tickets are already on sale.

Regional vice president Marilyn Romano said the route “will open new opportunities for tourism and commerce”. The Anchorage Daily News also quoted Angie Spear, director of the Alaska International Airport System, welcoming the airline’s continued investment in Anchorage.

The schedule

According to the schedule Alaska published (all times local):

• Anchorage to Tokyo Narita: departs 2:10 p.m., arrives 3:25 p.m. the next day, daily from 13 May to 7 September 2027
• Tokyo Narita to Anchorage: departs 9:45 p.m., arrives 12 p.m. the same day, daily from 14 May to 8 September 2027
• Winter: three flights a week in each direction from January 2028

Working from those times, the westbound flight is scheduled at 8 hours 15 minutes and the eastbound return at 7 hours 15 minutes, a gap that reflects the usual tailwinds on eastbound flights across the North Pacific. Introductory round-trip fares start at $999 for travel between 13 May and 7 June 2027 if booked by 31 October, Alaska says.

Why a single-aisle jet

Alaska says the MAX 8 “has a longer range than the MAX 10 and is the only 737 in our fleet capable of serving this route.” Boeing quotes a maximum range of 3,500 nautical miles for the 737-8; the Anchorage-Narita great-circle distance is about 2,980 nautical miles (3,426 statute miles), by FlyingFuel’s calculation from OurAirports coordinates. Real-world range depends on payload, winds and fuel reserves. Long flights over water by twin-engine jets also need ETOPS approval, explained in our ETOPS guide.

The jet has 167 seats: 16 domestic-style first class recliners, 36 extra-legroom seats and 115 standard economy seats, The Points Guy reports, so there are no lie-flat beds. Alaska promises multi-course dining in first class and a hot meal in the main cabin. Members of its Atmos Rewards program get free T-Mobile Wi-Fi on select flights while Starlink is fitted across the MAX 8 fleet.

Anchorage, Japan and the wider network

No airline flies scheduled passenger flights between Anchorage and Japan today, according to The Points Guy, which notes that Air France, British Airways, Japan Airlines, KLM and SAS once used Anchorage as a refueling stop on flights to Japan, into the early 1990s. Alaska already flies Seattle to Tokyo Narita, launched in 2025, and Hawaiian Airlines, now part of the same group, flies from Honolulu to Tokyo Haneda and Osaka.

FlightGlobal describes Alaska as expanding its network aggressively after its merger with Hawaiian. Alaska and Hawaiian are members of oneworld, explained in our airline alliances guide. Besides Tokyo, the airline will fly Anchorage to Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville once a week on Saturdays from 12 June to 7 August 2027.

Read more

• Boeing 737 MAX 8 review
• What is ETOPS? Twin-engine jets over oceans explained
• Narita Airport expansion and the delayed new runway
• Airbus A320neo vs Boeing 737 MAX 8

Sources: Alaska Airlines announcement, 27 October 2026; Anchorage Daily News, 27 October 2026; The Points Guy, 27 October 2026; FlightGlobal, 28 October 2026; distances from OurAirports data.

Featured image: FlyingFuel graphic using a photo of Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-8 MAX N813AK departing Boston by 4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.