Though this post does not include hard news about Alaska flights to Europe, I'm including it here because it's a significant development for those who fly on Rick's home-town airline, and has some very intriguing implications for the future. Caution, speculation ahead.
Short Version: Alaska Airlines has just announced plans to fly nonstop from Seattle to destinations across the Pacific (Tokyo and Seoul) starting next year, and has stated their intention to significantly expand international destinations to "at least 12" global destinations by 2030.
More details: These developments are benefits of Alaska's acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, a deal which has recently closed. With Hawaiian, they get brand-new 787s with long legs - range to cross the Pacific nonstop (before the Hawaiian "merger" Alaska's fleet did not include anything with longer range than a 737 MAX, not capable of ocean-crossing flights from Alaska's west coast base). Now, with those new 787s, Japan, Korea, and other Asian destinations are within comfortable range.
Shhh....So are many destinations in Europe.
Alaska's new 787s also feature lie-flat seats in their forward cabins, for those who can manage to enjoy such such things. That sure is a nice way to get to Japan or Korea (or Europe).
Now to be clear, Alaska has not announced any firm plans to fly to London, Paris, or anywhere else east of Boston. But it is a logical extension of their business strategy, and now, for the first time in their history, they have jets to do that. They have also made it clear that the newly-announced flights to Japan and Korea are the beginning of a new phase for the airline: long-haul flights to international destinations on new, highly capable wide-body jets.
As a Seattle resident who enjoys flying in "both directions" to cross oceans, I have long fantasized about what it would mean for my hometown airline to acquire some long-range 787s or A350s. I've always hoped to see Alaska expand deeper into and across the Pacific (to me, French Polynesia has always seemed like a logical expansion of their currently successful strategy - Alaska has done extremely well with leisure travel to Hawaii). Those new 787s make all that and more possible, and it sure seems to me that Alaska's management is excited about adding those - and other - destinations.
So Alaska will be flying to Seoul starting in October. You may not be all that excited about going to Seoul (I am, and my wife is completely fired up for that). But consider this:
If you've looked out the window, you know that from the US west coast (and much of the continent), to get to Europe, you don't fly east across the Atlantic – you fly NORTH – over the polar region (that's the shortest, most direct route). When you have 787s, northern Europe is closer than you might think.
So Alaska will be flying their 787s to Seoul. You know what cities are closer to Seattle than Seoul? Here are some: London. Dublin. Edinburgh. Paris. Berlin. Copenhagen. Helsinki. Basically, much of the northern half of Europe. Not all of Europe - southern destinations (eg Spain, Italy, Greece) would be just a bit out of range (though there are longer-range variants available, but those are not in Alaska's fleet currently and long-range aircraft orders are backlogged many years).
As someone who has watched my home town airline with interest for many years, my own belief is that Alaska acquired Hawaiian Airlines not to fly to Hawaii. They grabbed the airline because it had 787s about to be delivered, and more coming soon in the pipeline. The rest of the stuff they got was icing on the cake, but they bought Hawaiian as a clever shortcut to get long-range, wide-body 787s.
Alaska's 787s will soon be flying from Seattle to Tokyo and Seoul. Those 787s can can also fly north, to Europe. I think they will be doing exactly within the next couple years. I hope to be on one of them.