Start-up carrier Northern Pacific Airways has completed its inaugural flight from Ontario in Southern California to Las Vegas.

The Alaskan airline had planned for its first revenue flight to link the US and Asia with a stopover in Anchorage – using second-hand Boeing 757 aircraft.

But the carrier has delayed those plans, opting for the short ONT-LAS service until it is able to launch long-haul operations at a later date.

When launched, the flights are expected to link cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando, and Las Vegas, with Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya Japan as well as Seoul, South Korea.

The carrier posted on social media after the first flight on Friday: “This is only the beginning of the journey and we are excited to be part of many more adventures with you.”

Northern Pacific model

Northern Pacific intends to operate on a similar model to that used by Icelandair, which links Europe and the US via Reykjavik.

Having to change planes will lengthen the total flight time for passengers, but CEO Rob McKinney has insisted the stop in Anchorage could save passengers time by allowing them to avoid immigrations checks in busier airports.

Northern Pacific’s CEO is also promising passengers cost savings, vowing to cut fares by around 20 per cent compared with ticket prices for comparable journeys today.
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