New Pacific Airlines
is a small startup airline based in Anchorage International Airport
, Alaska operating a small fleet of
used Boeing 757-200s
. Its parent company is Ravn Alaska
– an Alaskan airline specializing in servicing small communities in Alaska.
New Pacific Airlines briefly offered commercial scheduled flights
but now it only focuses on charter flights. It has been called one of the strangest US airlines currently operating in the US.
Background of New Pacific Airlines
New Pacific Airlines was founded in May 2021. As a harbinger of its short but turbulent history, its name got off to a rocky start. It was formerly known as Corvus Airlines and Northern Pacific Airways but was
forced to rebrand after an injunction
.
Anchorage was founded to fly Boeing 757s
to Asia but fate would take it in a very different direction. The idea was to create an Icelandair-style model that would allow passengers to sightsee in Anchorage for a few days during stopovers.
New Pacific Airlines timeline:
- Founded: May 2021
- FAA authorization: July 2023
- Scheduled flights: July 2023 to March 2024
- Focus on charter flights: March to present
- Partnership with Private Jet Services: Announced September 2024
“New Pacific Airlines was born out of our passion for exploration and our desire to create seamless travel experiences. It all began with an idea: a new long-haul airline that would serve as a bridge between people and places, connecting the U.S. to Korea’s and Japan’s breathtaking sites and millennia-old cultures.” – New Pacific Airlines
Photo: New Pacific Airways
New Pacific Airlines received its full FAA authorization to launch flights in July 2023, enabling it to commence scheduled passenger flights. Initially, New Pacific Airlines had intended to fly from Alaska to Asia; however, instead, it seems to have flown nearly empty planes from Ontario to Reno and Nashville. The airline originally planned to operate flights from Anchorage to Tokyo, Osaka, and Seoul. It ended up flying from Alaska’s Anchorage to Las Vegas, Nashville, and Reno.
New Pacific Airlines time offering scheduled flights
In the summer of 2023, the airline (then called Northern Pacific Airways) operated just a single route three times a week between Ontario International Airport
(in San Bernadino County, California) and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. At the time, the airline operated the route with a single 28-year-old Boeing 757-200 (its other three 757s were stored). As a bad omen of things to come,
mechanical issues with the aircraft forced New Pacific Airlines to cancel a return flight
from Las Vegas in July 2023.
Photo: New Pacific Airways
That flight was then cut, and the airline established two new routes. One was from Ontario and Reno two times a week, and the other was from Ontario and Nashville two times a week.
|
New Pacific Airlines routes: |
Date commenced: |
Date ended: |
|---|---|---|
|
Ontario to Las Vegas: |
July 14, 2023 |
January 1, 2024 |
|
Ontario to Reno: |
November 16, 2023 |
March 23, 2024 |
|
Ontario to Nashville: |
November 17, 2023 |
March 29, 2024 |
In February 2024, it was reported that New Pacific Airlines had applied to operate two routes from North Dakota’s Devils Lake Regional Airport (DVL) to Jamestown Regional Airport (JMS) to Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The plan was to receive subsidies to operate the routes (as these would be essential air services). The application was in response to an offering by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide 12 weekly frequencies from DVL and 14 weekly frequencies from JMS. Had the application been approved, New Pacific would have operated De Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 aircraft on the route.
In March 2024, it was reported that New Pacific Airlines was discontinuing scheduled flights to Reno, and in April, it cut its Nashville flights to focus on charters. New Pacific Airlines states that connecting Asia and North America remains its end goal, but for now, it seeks to expand “throughout the US and North America.” In July 2024,
Simple Flying reported that the airline’s CEO, Rob McKinney, announced his departure
.
As a charter airline
Now, New Pacific Airlines operates as a charter airline. It currently operates a fleet of Boeing 757-200s configured with a total of 181 seats (divided into 16 first class seats, 36 economy preferred seats, and 129 economy seats). New Pacific’s Boeing 757s are able to fly up to 6.5 hours nonstop.
|
New Pacific Airlines |
|
|---|---|
|
Fleet: |
4x Boeing 757-200 (two more on order) |
|
Base: |
Anchorage, Alaska |
|
Type: |
Charter airline (formerly low-cost airline) |
|
Parent company: |
FLOAT Alaska |
Photo: New Pacific Airlines
With a total cargo volume of 2,490 feet³, New Pacific states the airliners’ cargo capacity is “perfect for sports teams, school groups, or organizations that need to travel with lots of total cargo volume.”
Partnership with Private Jet Services
In September 2024,
Simple Flying reported that Private Jet Services revealed a new VIP-configured Boeing 757
in partnership with New Pacific Airlines. These three converted Boeing 757s feature 78 business-class seats and introduce a new way of traveling for the Private Jet Services fleet (which is now equipped to transport a range of customers from corporate executive teams to large groups of travelers).
The future of New Pacific Airlines is anyone’s guess, but going from the planned Alaskan-based carrier flying to Japan and Korea to offering its jets as charter flights to Private Jet Services is a twist of fate few could have seen coming.