On June 2, Edelweiss, the Swiss leisure airline, inaugurated the first flight ever from Zurich to Seattle. This followed the return of SAS from Copenhagen on May 21, having last flown to Seattle in 2009. Their entry means 12 passenger airlines—US and European—now fly between the Washington State airport and Europe, the most since 2023. Alaska Airlines will join them next year, with its first route to Rome.
IATA/ICAO Code
SEA/KSEA
CEO
Lance Lyttle
Passenger Count
20,061,507 (2020)
The 12 airlines have nonstop flights to 11 European airports, the first time Seattle’s transatlantic destinations list has surpassed 10. It now has flights to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Istanbul (on the European side of the Bosphorus), Keflavik, London Heathrow, Munich, Paris CDG, and Zurich. According to Cirium Diio data, up to 18 daily flights will leave Seattle for Europe in the summer.
Edelweiss Has Arrived In Seattle
Edelweiss now serves Seattle. Its summer seasonal flights operate twice-weekly from Zurich until September 15. The aging, increasingly uncommon, and exciting 314-seat Airbus A340-300 is used, which makes it even more unusual. It will be the only A340 operator in Seattle this summer, although Lufthansa will use the type in the coming winter. Zurich to Seattle has become the world’s 13th-longest A340 route.
Seattle is Edelweiss’ fourth US destination, joining Denver, Las Vegas, and Tampa. The Swiss leisure carrier is attracted to the 28,000 local passengers who flew between the two cities last year. With nonstop flights and hopefully strong promotions, traffic will easily grow by at least 30%. Moreover, passengers can also connect in Zurich to SWISS-operated destinations. Important target markets will be Rome, Barcelona, Athens, Venice, and Prague, none of which have flights from Seattle (Rome will next year).
Seattle’s Growing Network To Europe
Photo: Alan Wilson | Flickr
The following table summarizes what is available in July 2025. Of course, airline additions do not just mean Edelweiss and SAS, which returned after 16 years. Finnair and Turkish Airlines entered the fray in 2022, followed by Air Tahiti Nui in 2023 (which has since pulled out). Oneworld member Finnair arrived soon after Alaska Airlines, whose busiest airport is Seattle, joined the alliance.
Yet, Seattle is more of a SkyTeam hub to Europe. Air France, Delta (for which Seattle is a hub), KLM, and Virgin Atlantic all operate. Around four in 10 departures are on that alliance’s airlines, about double that of oneworld members.
Seattle-Europe flights by…
To/from… July operations (it may be different at other times)
Aer Lingus
Dublin (daily A330-200)
Air France
Paris CDG (daily A350-900)
British Airways
London Heathrow (double daily 777-300ER, 787-10)
Condor
Frankfurt (daily A330-900)
Delta
Amsterdam (double daily A330-900), London Heathrow (daily A330-900), Paris CDG (daily A330-900)
Edelweiss
Zurich (twice-weekly A340-300)
Finnair
Helsinki (five weekly A330-300)
Icelandair
Keflavik (triple daily A321LR; becomes all-A321LR on June 4)
Lufthansa
Frankfurt (daily A350-900), Munich (three weekly A350-900)
SAS
Copenhagen (five weekly A350-900)
Turkish Airlines
Istanbul (10 weekly A350-900, occasionally 787-9)
Virgin Atlantic
London Heathrow (daily A330-900)
Related
As Few As 14 Nautical Miles: The 10 Shortest Boeing 787 Dreamliner Flights
They involve a complicated mixture of services, of which only some flights are bookable.
As Always, It Is Not All Good News…
Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying
Let’s focus on the past few years. Doing so shows that American Airlines served London Heathrow—the carrier’s top long-haul airport—between 2021 and 2023, a market left for transatlantic joint venture partner British Airways. American primarily flew daily on the 777-200ER.
Norwegian served Seattle from London Gatwick until 2019; huge losses meant the low-cost carrier ended all long-haul flights. The now-defunct Thomas Cook served Manchester until 2019, while Eurowings (which no longer operates long-haul) flew from Cologne until 2019.
Much more recently, Air Tahiti Nui flew from Papeete to Paris CDG via Seattle until January 2025. It offered a twice-weekly 787-9 service. The carrier pulled out to consolidate at Los Angeles, which simplifies its operations and reduces costs. In 2024, the US Department of Transportation data shows it carried 51,000 Seattle-Paris CDG passengers, but it is unclear how many originated/ended in Seattle.
