Alaska Airlines is set to launch its first narrowbody service to Europe in May of next year. The oneworld member will fly from its top airport, Seattle, to Keflavik using a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. While the flight will not offer seat-back TVs, passengers will be able to stream entertainment on their personal devices.

At 3,142 nautical miles each way, this will be the longest MAX flight operated by any US airline to date. It will also be the longest nonstop flight for the MAX aircraft by any US carrier. Despite this, it will not make the list of the US’s 10 shortest European flights.

Alaska Airlines To Iceland

Photo: GCMap

The seasonal flight will operate daily and will have a 159-seat MAX 8 aircraft with 12 domestic first-class seats and 147 economy seats. It will be interesting to see how the airline promotes its domestic first-class cabin for this long-haul flight. The launch date of May 29 has been mentioned, but it has not yet been confirmed. More details, including schedule and pricing, will be announced later this year.

According to booking data, there were only 51,000 round-trip point-to-point passengers between Seattle and Keflavik in the 12 months leading up to May 2025. This may seem like a small number, but this is only a part of the picture. Alaska Airlines will join codeshare partner Icelandair, which currently operates three daily flights on the Airbus A321LR. Most passengers on these flights have connecting flights across Europe. This route is not among the US’s highest load routes.

Alaska Airlines will be focusing on passengers traveling between the West Coast of the US and Canada and Iceland. Some notable markets without nonstop flights to Iceland include Los Angeles with 34,000 passengers and San Francisco with 24,000 passengers. Other cities with a significant number of passengers include Anchorage, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, and San Diego. As with any hub, it’s important to consider the cumulative effect of many origins and destinations.

It Will Be The Longest MAX Flight Ever By A US Airline

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

Using data from Cirium Diio, it is clear that the Seattle to Keflavik route will cover more distance than any other MAX flight operated by a US airline. The new link surpasses the current record-holder, a flight from Anchorage to New York JFK, by 200 nautical miles on a great circle basis. Interestingly, none of the top five longest MAX flights involve Europe. After Seattle-Keflavik, the next longest European MAX service operated by a US carrier is Newark to Funchal, covering 2,762 nautical miles. This route is operated by United using a MAX 8 and began in June 2025.

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