Major carriers are already beefing up for the summer tourism season in Alaska

All indicators point toward a robust tourist season for next summer.

There’s a new entrant on the scene to take travelers south: Hawaiian Airlines.

Starting June 12, 2025, Hawaiian Airlines will offer twice-daily wide-body service between Anchorage and Seattle. One flight leaves at 4:10 p.m. and the other leaves at 2:55 a.m. (yawn).

On Hawaiian’s twin-aisle wide-body A330 aircraft, there are 18 lie-flat seat in first class. These are the first lie-flat seats offered between Anchorage and Seattle. Sure, it’s just a three-hour flight. But, hey, it’s 3 a.m.! There’s enough time for a cat-nap, if you’re willing to pay for it.

I checked some midsummer dates (June 18) and found the first-class seats available for $540 one-way, or 40,000 Alaska Airlines miles. Of course, those prices can go up or down in the blink of an eye.

These summertime seats are available using cash or miles on both websites: alaskaair.com or hawaiianairlines.com.

Alaska Air’s frequent flyers already are asking about elite-level upgrades on Hawaiian flights between Anchorage and Seattle and between Seattle and Tokyo.

Right now, travelers who earn miles on Hawaiian flights can transfer them to their Alaska Airlines mileage account.

According to Alex DaSilva of Hawaiian Airlines, the carrier’s A330s also feature 68 extra-legroom seats (with 36-inch pitch), plus 192 seats in the back.

With 278 seats, the A330 will be the biggest bird in the sky between Anchorage and Seattle.

But there’s another more personal reason to love the A330. Unlike Boeing’s 737s or 787s, or Airbus’ A320 family, Hawaiian’s A330 features a 2x4x2 layout. That means you can avoid the middle seat if you choose wisely.

Nobody likes a middle seat. So even though the A330 is big, about half the passengers on the plane can avoid the dreaded middle seat. Pity the poor folks in the middle section with four-across seating.

The no-middle-seat option also is available on Alaska’s E-175s that fly between Anchorage around the state, as well as on select flights south to Seattle and Portland. The planes, operated by Horizon Air (a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines), feature a 2x2 layout in coach. Sadly, Alaska dropped the Anchorage-Paine Field flight for the summer.

Delta Air Lines flies the Airbus A220 model between Anchorage and Seattle and between Fairbanks and Seattle. Those planes offer a 2x3 seating plan in coach, so there are options to avoid the middle seat.

Hawaiian’s entry into the Anchorage-Seattle market is part of a larger initiative to bring the carrier’s planes to Seattle for flights to Tokyo. Those flights start on May 20, 2025. Nonstop Seattle-Seoul flights on Hawaiian are planned for October of next year.

Hawaiian Airlines is not the only carrier beefing up its flights for next summer.

Condor Airlines, which operates a larger version of the A330 (A330-300), is boosting its summertime flight schedule from three to four times per week. The first flight is May 17, 2025.

Condor is an earn-and-burn mileage partner with Alaska Airlines.

WestJet, a Canadian airline based in Edmonton, Alberta, is launching twice-weekly flights (Fridays and Sundays) between Anchorage and Calgary starting June 29.

Delta Air Lines is boosting its nonstop Anchorage-Detroit flight to daily service for the summer, starting May 23.

In addition to its year-round Anchorage-Minneapolis nonstops, Delta will offer summertime nonstops to Atlanta and Salt Lake City.

United Airlines flies year-round nonstops to Denver. But in the summer, it will resume daily nonstops to Washington, D.C., and to Houston, Chicago, San Francisco and Newark.

American Airlines will resume its Anchorage-Dallas nonstop in March. Its Anchorage-Chicago nonstop resumes on May 5. American Air is a key mileage partner with Alaska Airlines.

Air Canada will resume its summertime flights to Vancouver, B.C., in May. Sun Country Airlines resumes its Anchorage-Minneapolis flights on May 17. Discover Airlines will resume twice-weekly nonstop service from Anchorage to Frankfurt in June.

Alaska Airlines has more nonstops from Anchorage to the Lower 49 than all the rest of the airlines combined. Nonstop destinations, in addition to Seattle and Portland, include San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego (Saturdays only), Salt Lake City, Denver, Las Vegas (Fridays and Sundays), Phoenix, Minneapolis, Honolulu, Chicago and New York’s JFK airport.

Alaska’s nonstops from Anchorage to Maui and Kona end in March.

From Fairbanks, nonstop flights are available on Delta and Alaska to Seattle. During the summer, United Airlines will offer nonstops to Chicago and Denver. Delta will fly nonstop from Fairbanks to Salt Lake City and Minneapolis.

Frequent travelers know nonstop flights are the best. They also know that middle seats are terrible. The new options for 2025 offer some good news on both fronts.