Alaska Air Group just announced that Hawaiian Airlines will fly Seattle to Osaka (KIX) starting May 14, 2027, and Seattle to Papeete, Tahiti starting June 11, 2027. Both are year-round, both use Hawaiian A330-200s with lie-flat Suites, and both are the only nonstop option on their routes from Seattle. Neither is flying for roughly seven months, so the only thing happening right now is a short sale.

What actually changed

Seattle gets two more long-haul routes, which Alaska calls its eighth and ninth intercontinental destinations from SEA. Osaka runs four times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun departures from Seattle), leaving at 12:10 p.m. and landing at 4 p.m. the next day. Papeete runs three times a week (Wed, Fri, Sat), leaving at 11:55 p.m. and landing at 7:20 a.m., and it is flight AS987. Return flights are the mirror image. No flight number was published for the Osaka route.

The sale fare, and the clock on it

Introductory round-trip Main Cabin fares from Seattle are $999 to Papeete and $1,199 to Osaka. The sale runs only through October 26, and the fares are subject to availability. That means roughly five days to decide on a trip that is seven to eight months away. Dated fares that far out are cheap to book and, usually, easy to change, but check the fare rules on whichever basic-economy-style bucket you land in before you assume you can walk away.

What you get on board

Hawaiian's A330-200s carry lie-flat business class Suites plus a Premium Class cabin. Suites guests get dedicated check-in and Alaska Lounge access in Seattle, plus chef-curated Asia-Pacific meals. Starlink Wi-Fi is free for Atmos Rewards members. Worth noting: Alaska has said the A330 fleet gets new interiors starting in 2028, so the seats you buy in 2027 are the current ones.

The catch

Everything is explicitly subject to schedule changes and government approval. Seven months is plenty of time for a schedule to move, and airlines also trim new long-haul routes that underperform. The release says nothing about award pricing, so what these flights cost in Atmos Rewards miles is unknown until award space actually appears. Don't make plans that depend on a specific award price yet.

Is it worth caring about?

If you live near Seattle, yes. Skipping a connection to reach Japan's Kansai or Tahiti is a real improvement, and both routes are first nonstops from Seattle to those cities. Hawaiian will keep flying Honolulu to both cities, so Honolulu connections remain an option. In Papeete, Alaska says it can offer same-day connections to Bora Bora and Moorea, plus Rarotonga through an Air Tahiti partnership. If you are not in the Pacific Northwest, this is mostly a strategy story: Alaska wants at least 15 long-haul destinations from Seattle by 2030, and the Hawaiian merger is how it is getting widebodies to do it.

Confirmed directly on Alaska Airlines' own newsroom announcement.