New U.S. Airline Plans to Connect Anchorage to Asia with Icelandair Model

Joining Avelo and Breeze, another low-cost United States airline has announced a launch during a global pandemic, say hello to Northern Pacific Airways. They’re planning to connect you from Alaska to Asia by Summer 2022.

Northern Pacific, whose base of operations is in Anchorage currently under the name Ravn Alaska, has built a business model that provides low fares connecting North America with Asia through its hub at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and they plan to use Alaska as a stopover point for tourists, a lot like Icelandair’s ability to build a stopover into an itinerary, free of charge. They’re hoping tourists and travelers will stay for a few days and admire the northern-most State.

“Right now, we’re really looking at the Icelandair model because they’ve been so successful. The goal is to encourage people to spend a day or two here and go salmon fishing, or go ride a sled dog on a glacier, or just all kinds of things you can only do here in Alaska,” said Rob McKinney, CEO of Ravn Alaska.

Last month, Ravn Alaska registered the trade names Northern Pacific, Northern Pacific Airlines, and Northern Pacific Airways with the Department of Transportation and filed to deregister the name Ravn according to the Department of Transportation approval statement

Since Corvus [Ravn’s parent company] has complied with the requirements of Part 215, we acknowledge the registration of the trade names “Northern Pacific”, “Northern Pacific Airlines”, and “Northern Pacific Airways” for use immediately in Corvus’ operations. Additionally, the Department deregisters the trade name “RavnAir Alaska” effective immediately.

– DOT approval statement

But Ravn Alaska’s fleet won’t be getting you to Asia anytime soon. They currently operate a fleet of 11 Dash 8 -100s and -300s.

By 2023 the airline says they expect to have 12 Boeing 757’s on property that can complete the journey across the Pacific, although they are hoping to launch service to Tokyo and Seoul, and those destinations are beyond the reach of the aircraft type. The range could cover North America, North Asia, Russia, and much of Western Europe. But South Asia and Southeast Asia are beyond the plane’s reach. Northern Pacific mentioned their domestic wish-list as well citing Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas and Orlando as departure points to Anchorage, before continuing the journey overseas.

Northern Pacific, when flying, will be the first low-cost operator over the Pacific. Many airlines have attempted the business model across the Atlantic including Icelandiar, WOW Airlines and Norwegian, with only Icelandair still operating today. However, newcomer Norse Atlantic recently announced their plans to begin service across the Atlantic with plans to serve the low-cost intercontinental market with modern, fuel-efficient and more environmentally friendly Boeing 787 Dreamliners. They plan to serve New York, Florida, Paris, London and Oslo and expect the first flights will take off in late first quarter or early second quarter of 2022.