Seattle to Anchorage

Between Seattle and Anchorage, 1.8 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 14 thousand flights of about 1,448 miles and 3.1 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 203 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 195 kg on Alaska Airlines to 251 kg on Hawaiian Airlines.

203 kgCO2 per passenger, average
1,448 milesabout 3.1 hours in the air
1.8 millionpassengers in 2025
81%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.

Seattle to Anchorage by airline, 2025

Airline	Share of passengers	Flights (thousands)	Main aircraft	Seats per flight	Seats filled	kg CO2 per passenger
Alaska Airlines	76%	10.1	Boeing 737-900ER, Boeing 737 MAX 9	166	82%	195
Delta Air Lines	21%	3.2	Boeing 737-800, Airbus A220-300	146	79%	224
Hawaiian Airlines	3%	0.3	Airbus A330-200	278	67%	251

What explains the differences

It's number 83 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 31 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.14 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 1,448 miles in this set comes out at about 207 kg, so this one is close to that.

The airlines on this route differ by 29% per passenger. Alaska Airlines burned 2,721 gallons per flight and 136 passengers on each, and Hawaiian Airlines 4,801 gallons and 186 passengers. The gap comes from fuel burned per flight, a little of it offset by passengers per flight. Alaska Airlines flew 82% full here against 67% for Hawaiian Airlines, flying mostly Boeing 737-900ER against Airbus A330-200.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 187 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 8.5% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.1 million passengers on 14 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 1.8 million, down 12%, on 14 thousand flights, down 4%. The average flight had 170 seats then and 164 now, and 85% of them were filled against 81%.

CO2 per passenger was 193 kg in 2019 and 203 kg in 2025, up 5.3%. Fuel burned per flight was down 3.9% (2,862 gallons to 2,751) and passengers per flight were down 8.7% (145 to 132). The distance flown was about the same (1,448 miles then, 1,448 now).

Alaska Airlines led in both years, with 80% of passengers in 2019 and 76% in 2025. Alaska Airlines lost the most, 80% to 76%. Hawaiian Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 3%.

Airline by airline, Alaska Airlines went from 190 kg to 195 kg per passenger (170 seats per flight to 166, main aircraft Boeing 737-900ER in both years); Delta Air Lines went from 200 kg to 224 kg per passenger (170 seats per flight to 146, main aircraft Boeing 737-900ER then and Boeing 737-800 now).

Seattle to Anchorage, 2019 and 2025

Measure	2019	2025
Passengers (thousands)	2,054	1,806
Flights (thousands)	14.2	13.7
Seats filled	85%	81%
Gallons of fuel per flight	2,862	2,751
kg CO2 per passenger	193	203

Kilograms of CO2 per passenger on the airlines that flew the route in both years. 2019 figures use that year's filings and estimated aircraft fuel rates, with type-average replacements for missing or outlying filings as described in the methodology. Less is better.

Seattle to Anchorage and back: time in the air

Flights from Seattle to Anchorage spent 192 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 180 minutes from Anchorage to Seattle: 12 minutes longer, 7% more. That's the westbound direction, into the prevailing west-to-east winds, which at flight levels often blow at well over 50 miles an hour.

At this route's average burn of about 889 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 175 gallons per flight, which is about 1.3 gallons or 13 kg of CO2 for each passenger on the slower direction. The route figure above averages both directions.

Time in the air by direction, 2025

Direction	Average minutes in the air	Flights
Seattle to Anchorage	191.6	6,832
Anchorage to Seattle	179.8	6,818

Fly or drive

There's no road between Seattle and Anchorage, so the choice is a flight or a boat, and a flight is the only practical option for most trips.

Flights are listed under the airline that operates them, so regional flying appears under the regional. How the CO2 and drive figures are worked out is in the methodology.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

Airports on this route: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Airport and airline references

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), T-100 traffic and Schedule T-2 fuel filings; US EPA transport emission factors. See the methodology.

See all routes, or how the airlines compare overall on the airline pages.