Alaska Airlines Starts Boeing 737 MAX 8 Seattle-Reykjavik Flights May 28
Alaska Airlines will launch its first boeing 737 MAX service to Europe on May 28, beginning daily Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Keflavik International Airport flights with a 161-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8. The route runs 3,147 nautical miles each way and is scheduled through September 7.
Seattle to Keflavik
The new service gives Alaska a daily summer option on a market already served nonstop by Icelandair. Alaska will fly the route from May 28 to September 7, and the airline has said its Iceland flights end its European network development for 2026.
The Seattle-to-Keflavik trip will be Alaska’s new longest ever narrowbody service. Alaska is pairing the route with a Boeing 737 MAX 8 configured with 16 reclining chairs in domestic first in a 2-2 layout with 41-inch pitch, 30 extra legroom seats in a 3-3 layout with up to 38-inch pitch, and 115 seats in the main cabin in a 3-3 layout with 30-inch pitch.
Alaska Airlines 2026
Alaska also will begin flying from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to London on May 21, one week before the Reykjavik route starts. The Iceland service follows that London launch and extends Alaska’s European network into a second market in late May.
For passengers, the flight includes food and drink, while entertainment must be streamed to personal devices. Those details put the route into a clear short-haul international format even though the flying distance reaches 3,147 nautical miles.
Icelandair Seattle Market
Icelandair has flown nonstop to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport since July 2009, carrying just shy of two million round-trip passengers on the route between July 2009 and February 2026. That Seattle service accounted for 13% of Icelandair’s US traffic in that period.
In July and August 2026, Alaska Airlines and Icelandair will have over 76,000 two-way seats for sale between Seattle and Keflavik, and total seat capacity on the route is up 10% year over year. Icelandair will serve Keflavik International Airport three times a day in the peak summer of 2026, using a 160-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8 instead of the 187-seat Airbus A321LR, which means 14% fewer seats for sale on its service.
Booking data suggests 48,000 round-trip passengers flew between Seattle and Keflavik in the 12 months to February 2026, and Keflavik International Airport’s Seattle market ranked as its seventh most popular US city for local passengers in that period.
