Avis du vol entre Seattle et Seoul en classe Economique avec Hawaiian Airlines

【 'Operated by Alaska' 】

Hello and welcome to a very special Flight Report (FR)!!

In December 2023, Alaska Air Group announced it would purchase Hawaiian Airlines, with the purchase closing in September 2024. While Hawaiian will remain a separate brand for flights to and within Hawaii, it will operate as a part of Alaska Airlines, with full AS flight number and callsign. Another consequence of the merger would be the transfer of all Boeing 787 jets from Hawaiian's fleet to Alaska, which will now operate Alaska's new long-haul network from Seattle. The first of those started operation on 12 May 2025 from Seattle to Tokyo, with the 2nd one being this route to Seoul, South Korea. As of the writing of this FR, the airline has also launched flights to Rome, with London, Reykjavik, and more to come. 

This flight was taken on 30 March 2026, around a month before the merger was fully completed (on 22 April). Because of this, this flight (HA871) is still technically a Hawaiian flight but is 'operated by Alaska' (according to my boarding pass), hence why Hawaiian is listed as the airline. After the merger, this flight would be operated with an Alaska flight number (AS871), making this flight one of the last to fly with the 'HA' flight number.

I aim to offset all of my CO2 emissions from flights. All emissions are calculated using the ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator and I will be funding projects approved by The Gold Standard.

【 Seattle–Tacoma International Airport 】

You join me airside at the N gates (or the North Satellite terminal) after hopping off another flight. That FR will be released at a later date. 

Departures for the afternoon. 

View of the apron. 

I love the design of the terminal - it's gorgeous and modern. 

There's also this huge artwork right opposite the food court. 

The food court with live music! This is the first time I've seen live music at an airport - it gives the whole place a relaxed/laid-back feel, which is a huge contrast to the busy/chaotic atmosphere most airports have. 

View of the apron with an Alaska Boeing 737 MAX 9 heading to San Diego (SAN) and another Boeing 737-800 heading to Santa Ana (SNA) that's just pushed on the left. 

The gates. 

I'm still not 100% familiar with how everything works in the US (it's also my first time flying Alaska). The departure screens also seem to show upgrade requests and the standby list? I've never seen anything like this before (and I'm only just figuring out how standby works), so I'm kinda curious if this is normal in the US or if it's an Alaska/Seattle thing?

Anyways, I had another little walk around, and here's the terminal from upstairs. 

The Alaska lounge is right ahead. 

And of course, being in the US, I had to get some fast food - Wendy's it is! I've only seen one or two Wendy's in the UK (and never tried it), but I understand it's rather popular here. 

And here it is! I got a chicken burger with fries and some chicken tenders - it's very good! Honestly, I find fast food in the US to be much better than in Europe. 

Our flight will be departing from gate N14. 

【 The Flight 】

Flight time to Seoul will be around 11 hours and 30 minutes. Here's our route: 

Our plane in the new Alaska livery. 

That's a terrible photo, so here's a much better one I got coming into SEA. 

Some info about our plane:

Type: Boeing 787-9
Registration: N784HA
First flight: 15 November 2025
Age: ~4 months
Configuration: C34/Y266

Embarrassingly, I didn't check the registration until just now… I 100% thought this was one of the 4 787s that got transferred from Hawaiian the entire trip (hence the 'HA' in the registration). But no, as of the making of this FR, Alaska have 5 787s, 4 former Hawaiian and 1 brand new. We seem to have lucked out and got the brand new one. I don't know how I didn't realize that until now…

Boarding started on time, and was done by groups… except I never got a group number. I just joined the queue when boarding for economy started.

Here's a photo of the cabin. I'm pretty sure this is the same cabin as the former Hawaiian 787s, despite it being newly delivered to Alaska. It's why I thought this was a former Hawaiian jet until just now. 

There's something ironic about flying an Alaska jet with a tropical-themed cabin… like the two do not go together haha. 

On each seat is also a bag with a pillow and blanket. 

View out of the window. 

The IFE (which we'll look at later) and the tray table. 

Alaska's Boeing 787s are fitted with 266 Collins Aerospace Aspire economy seats in a 3-3-3 configuration:

Rows 15-24 have 36" of pitch (marketed as extra comfort seats)
Standard seats have 31" of pitch. 

Seat width is 17" with 5" of recline. All seats come with adjustable headrests, a 12" IFE display, USB-A and USB-C ports, and a universal power outlet at the bottom. 

31" of pitch with the slim seats results in pretty good legroom. The seats are also fairly comfortable as well, unlike some of the new seats we're seeing (mainly on European and hybrid carriers). 

Safety videos are done in English with Korean subtitles. Despite the external Alaska livery, everything inside is still Hawaiian-branded.

Takeoff! Bye bye North America!

You can also see another Alaska Boeing 787 parked down below. 

Amazing views of the suburbs around Seattle. 

I'm pretty sure that's Downtown Seattle on the bottom left. 

The area around Seattle is so scenic - I'd love to visit the city proper one day. 

Enjoy the views as we climb to our cruising altitude. 

Shortly after takeoff, the crew came around with the Korean Arrival Card and Health Declaration Form - these aren't required if you're transiting. 

I find it interesting how the Health Declaration Form is in English and Chinese… but not Korean!! That's crazy to me.

Snow-capped peaks over British Columbia, Canada. 

Let's have a look at the contents of the seat back pocket. It includes an air sickness bag (not pictured), a safety card…

… and a guide on the Atmos Rewards program, which is the loyalty program for Alaska and Hawaiian. The aircraft isn't fitted with Wi-Fi, which is surprising considering this plane is brand new. It's a shame since the Wi-Fi on Alaska's narrow-body fleet is pretty good (I had a look on my first leg into SEA). 

Shortly after takeoff, the crew came around with drinks and a packet of salted pretzels. They actually give you the full can, which is really rare in economy these days. 

Here's a funny detail: the Coke can has Korean! I'm baffled by how they managed to get cans of Korean Coke on this flight. Checking the flight schedule, this plane was parked at SEA for a few days before flying to Honolulu prior to this trip. So, either this can went on multiple trips, or they managed to source Korean Coke in the US. Either explanation is fascinating to me. 

They also handed out a tiny amenity kit…

Oh, if you're wondering why I'm photographing this on my leg when I've got the tray table… It's because the little light on the overhead panel is hilariously misaligned. It points towards my face rather than the tray table, so it's absolutely pointless if I'm photographing anything on the tray table, as you'll see during meal service. 

It's just the standard earplugs, earphones, and an eye mask. I didn't use it, but it's still really nice for long hauls. 

Not much to see outside now.

Around 2 hours after takeoff, the crew came around with lunch/dinner. The options were spicy chicken or pasta - I'm really glad the crew mentioned that the chicken is spicy; I have a huge gripe with airlines serving spicy food without telling people, so it's a really nice touch. 

And here it is. Notice how I have to pull the tray off the table to get a decent shot? Yeah…

Anyway, I went with the chicken. It's chicken tikka with rice and spinach. Along with the main, we have a 'salad' consisting of unseasoned lettuce and carrots, a chocolate cake, and crackers with cheese. The chicken is pretty bland, especially when you combine it with the rice and spinach (the salt/pepper doesn't really help either). The 'salad' is an absolute joke, unless you're a rabbit that enjoys eating raw lettuce and carrots. The cake is… alright, not great either. All in all, a pretty bland meal that looks good, but tastes terrible. 

The only good thing about the meal? You get a full-sized can of Coke with ice!! It's amazing! 

Is it just me, or does anyone else like to drink the ice too? Like, it's just nice and refreshing.

Photo of the cabin immediately after meal service. 

Somewhere over Alaska with more snow-capped mountains.

Let's have a look at the IFE!

The IFE actually displays the flight's callsign, which is ASA871 (or 'ALASKA 871'), despite it being (again) a Hawaiian Airlines flight. Goes to show how this flight is basically Alaska Airways operationally; it's just the customer-facing side that's still Hawaiian. 

There are a total of 274 movie entries, with the vast majority being from the US/UK. There are 10 'international' films, mostly in Japanese. As for the TV selection, there are 123 entries, with most entries having 2-3 episodes. A music and games section is also available. 

There's also a kid's section…

… with a cute kid's inflight map! It's got dinosaurs!! I've never seen a kid's map before, so it's pretty cool. 

Of course, a fully interactive 'boring' map (for the adults) is also available. ;)

All in all, an ok IFE system content-wise. It's very basic if you compare it to some larger airlines in NA (like American Airlines, who have over 1000 movies on its IFE). Nevertheless, it's acceptable. 


Sea Ice over the Pacific

I used to hate the Boeing 787 with its dimmable windows. But these days, I actually prefer it. With these windows, you can see outside for the whole flight, so I can catch a lot of cool scenery that would've been missed with the window blinds closed. I can also (partially) correct the color balance using Lightroom Classic, although it's by no means perfect. 

Watching Skyfall! This is actually my first time watching a James Bond film! My film knowledge is terrible - the only time I actually watch films is on planes haha. 

After finishing the film, I slept for around 2-3 hours. And was woken up by an announcement saying that breakfast would be served early due to anticipated turbulence over Japan. 

And here it is. This was served around 3.5 hours before landing, which is around 1.5 hours earlier than usual. 

The options were meatball or noodles - unfortunately, the noodles ran out after only serving 1/2 of the cabin, which is a huge shame. What's left is pork meatballs with rice. Along with the main, there are some fresh fruits and a cookie. Honestly, the catering on this flight has been very disappointing. The portion size is tiny, especially for a 12-hour flight. At least they still serve 2 hot meals, which is a plus… I guess? I know I've been spoiled by the amazing catering on Asian airlines, but this is pretty poor in comparison. 

But hey, at least they still give you a full can! It's the only redeeming factor catering-wise. 

As anticipated, it was pretty bumpy for the next two hours over Japan. 

Oh, and while I was sleeping, a really weird glitch happened on the IFE. I left it on the moving map, which is fine… 

… except when you tried to exit…

… it takes you to the kids' map instead.

… now, you can try to exit the kids' map…

… but it takes you back to the 'normal' map again!! Essentially, you're trapped in this weird loop. Of course, it probably would've been fixed if I had asked the FA to reset the IFE, but I didn't see the point of bothering them, especially since I preferred to sleep for the last 2 hours. Nevertheless, a weird glitch. 

And finally, two hours later, we're starting our descent into Seoul. 

And here's our path into Incheon's runway 33R

First view of land. 

On final approach. 

Welcome to South Korea! We arrived on time. 

Taxiing past Terminal 2, which is the main terminal for Asiana and Korean Air. 

The Midfield Concourse with a Parata Air Airbus A330-200 pushing back for Tokyo (NRT). Parata Air was formerly Fly Gangwon before it declared bankruptcy in 2023. The airline restarted operations in its new name in August 2025. 

Parked at the gate. 

【 Seoul Incheon International Airport 】

Alaska/Hawaiian uses Terminal 1 at Incheon. 

One last look at our plane. 

A nice water installation on the way to immigration/transfers. 

I'll end this FR here. I'm staying here overnight (airside, so I didn't go through immigration) before another flight tomorrow. Thanks for reading and take care!