Northern Pacific Airways Begins Service In California

The U.S.'s newest airline is scheduled to operate its first revenue flight on Friday (July 14) but the departure and destination seem at odds with the new airline's name. Northern Pacific Airways announced on July 8 that it had been signed off by the FAA to begin scheduled service. But the Anchorage-based airline will launch from Ontario Airport in California for a 45-minute hop to Las Vegas with its first paying customers. The return flight is the following Sunday. The airline says it's all part of the plan to get the myriad systems of an airline up and running before executing its ultimate plan of offering cheap flights to Asia.

Northern Pacific intends to adopt a model made successful by Iceland carriers to boost the tourism industry of their home bases while offering budget intercontinental flights. Northern Pacific hopes that enough people on the West Coast would enjoy a couple of days in Anchorage before heading to an Asian destination that it can fill its fleet of Boeing 757s. IcelandAir used 757s to haul curious customers from North American departure points to Reykjavik before dropping them in London, Frankfurt and Paris. Northern Pacific is hoping to begin the Asian flights in 2024.