Alaska Airlines unveils the long haul business class service flying to London from May

Late last year we covered how Alaska Airlines had secured take-off and landing slots at Heathrow, allowing it to launch long haul services from its base in Seattle.

The move into long haul operations is part of the airline’s merger with Hawaiian Airlines, which already operated a fleet of long haul Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Alaska Airlines is a member of the oneworld alliance, alongside British Airways, so you will be able to earn and redeem Avios, and earn British Airways Club tier points, on these flights.

Alaska saw the Hawaiian fleet as an opportunity to rejig the company. It is retaining the Hawaiian Airlines brand as a direct-to-Hawaii airline but is repurposing its 787s to fulfil Alaska’s own ambition for a long haul hub in Seattle.

To that end, it has ordered an additional 17 Dreamliners, significantly expanding its inherited fleet of five. Overall, Alaska hopes to fly to 12 long haul destinations as part of its ‘Alaska Accelerate’ strategy.

London Heathrow is one of the first long haul routes to launch, following Seoul and Tokyo. Rome and Reykjavik (albeit using a Boeing 737) will follow later this year.

Alaska Airlines will launch flights to London on 22nd May with a daily Heathrow to Seattle service. Fellow oneworld member American Airlines is leasing the Heathrow slots it needs.

Alaska Airlines will become the fourth airline to operate the Seattle route with British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic already flying. American Airlines dropped the route in 2023, just two years after launch.

Alaska Airlines unveils a new long haul onboard experience

With London flights launching on 22nd May, Alaska Airlines has finally revealed what passengers can expect on board.

Unsurprisingly, it will retain the existing business class cabins. This is based on Elevate Aircraft Seating’s Ascent seat, also flown by Qatar Airways, American Airlines and United Airlines. This is an excellent reverse herringbone seat in an industry standard 1-2-1 layout.

It has chosen not to re-upholster and reskin the Leihōkū Suites, which sport Hawaiian’s brown-and-blue colour scheme and were introduced just a couple of years ago. Fortunately blue is also part of Alaska Airlines’ brand colours.

Each seat comes with an 18″ TV loaded with over 1,500 films and TV shows. Sadly there’s no built in Bluetooth support, although the airline will supply noise-cancelling headphones.

Alaska Airlines is collaborating with ‘Pacific Northwest icon’ Filson for its bedding and amenity kits. This includes a mattress pad (excellent!), sleeping pillow, lumbar pillow and ‘oversized’ brown plaid duvet.

Meanwhile the amenity kit comes in two ‘West Coast-inspired’ colours and looks very smart. It contains Salt & Stone skincare products, eye mask, dental kit and more.

Alaska Airlines long haul business class meal service

Food is generally something that US airlines struggle with, particularly versus Asian and Middle Eastern carriers, so it will be interesting to see how Alaska Airlines handles this.

It says it is introducing ‘restaurant quality dining’ with menus that ‘celebrate the flavours of the West Coast and the global destinations Alaska serves.’

This includes a ‘sophisticated’ welcome service comprising a cheese and charcuterie board, which it says is a refined interpretation of its iconic signature fruit & cheese platter.

A meal service then follows with a starter and a choice from up to six main courses.

You’ll be able to pre-select your meal choice, with example dishes including roasted chicken and pasta carbonara on flights to Rome and Gochujag chicken with traditional banchan to Seoul. It will be interesting to see what local culinary delights it offers on London flights.

Dessert will be offered via a trolley service, and Alaska is partnering with Salt & Straw for a customisable sundae service ‘alongside other artisanal desserts.’ If you’ve never heard of Salt & Straw, it is a West Coast ice cream shop offering unique flavour combinations.

Towards the end of the flight, you’ll be treated to a pre-arrival meal which includes a classic full English breakfast on flights to London.

Throughout the flight you’ll be watered with a choice of West Coast and European wines, whilst the champagne on offer is Roederer. Also on offer are handcrafted cocktails, West Coast craft beers and freshly brewed Stumptown coffee.

Conclusion

Unlike JetBlue, which launched with a small plates concept on long haul flights, Alaska Airlines is taking a more conventional approach with starter, main and dessert courses.

With business class seats increasingly standardised (and in this case the same model as selected by American and United) the airline is leaning into its Pacific Northwest heritage to differentiate the onboard experience with local amenities, wines and beers.

The proof, of course, is in the pudding. Will Alaska Airlines be able to differentiate itself from the three other airlines operating on this route? Will it be a product worth redeeming Aviosn on? We hope to find out.