Hawaiian Airlines Officially Joining oneworld in Spring 2026

After months of speculation following the Alaska Airlines merger, we finally have confirmation: Hawaiian Airlines will officially join the oneworld alliance in Spring 2026. Alaska's VP of Loyalty, Brett Catlin, confirmed the timeline during a Reddit Q&A in October, stating that Hawaiian is expected to join between March and May 2026.

For UK-based points collectors, this is genuinely exciting news. Once Hawaiian joins oneworld, you'll be able to earn and redeem Avios on flights to Hawaii and across the Pacific – opening up a whole new world of redemption possibilities that simply weren't available before.

Alaska Air Group completed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines in September 2024. Rather than merging the two carriers under a single brand (as they did when Alaska absorbed Virgin America), the company is taking an IAG-style approach – keeping both Hawaiian and Alaska as separate operating brands with their own identities.

The loyalty programmes have already merged. On 1 October 2025, HawaiianMiles was fully absorbed into the new Atmos Rewards programme, which combines the former Alaska Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles into a single currency. Existing HawaiianMiles balances converted at a 1:1 ratio.

Hawaiian will become the 16th full member of oneworld and the third North American carrier in the alliance, joining Alaska Airlines and American Airlines.

Once Hawaiian officially joins oneworld, you'll be able to use Avios from British Airways, Qatar Airways, Iberia, or Finnair to book Hawaiian Airlines flights. This includes routes to:

Hawaii – Multiple islands from US West Coast cities

Japan – Tokyo Haneda, Tokyo Narita, and Osaka from Honolulu

South Korea – Seoul Incheon from Honolulu

Australia – Sydney from Honolulu

South Pacific – Tahiti, Rarotonga (Cook Islands), American Samoa

You'll also earn Avios when flying Hawaiian on paid tickets, and crucially, oneworld elite status holders will receive reciprocal benefits including lounge access, priority boarding, and extra baggage allowances.

Getting to Hawaii with points has traditionally been one of the best uses of Avios. Thanks to British Airways' distance-based pricing, flights from the US West Coast to Hawaii on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines have been a fantastic redemption – typically around 13,000-20,000 Avios each way in economy.

Once Hawaiian joins oneworld, you'll have even more routing options. Hawaiian operates a robust network between the Hawaiian islands and major US cities, plus those valuable transpacific routes to Asia and Oceania.

If you're planning a trip to Hawaii, check out our guide on how many Avios you need for various routes to start planning.

Here's an important note: Virgin Atlantic's long-standing partnership with Hawaiian Airlines ended on 30 June 2025. You can no longer earn or spend Virgin Points on Hawaiian flights.

This actually makes sense from Virgin Atlantic's perspective – why partner with an airline that's about to join a rival alliance? But for those of us who hold Virgin Points, it does remove a useful redemption option until Hawaiian's oneworld membership goes live.

In related news, Alaska Airlines just announced daily Boeing 787 service from Seattle to London Heathrow starting 21 May 2026. Tickets are already on sale with fares from $699 return.

This is significant for UK travellers because it provides a new routing option to Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest. You could fly Heathrow to Seattle on Alaska, then connect onwards to Honolulu on Hawaiian – all within the oneworld alliance.

The flight schedule is:

Alaska secured slots at Heathrow by leasing them from alliance partner American Airlines. The aircraft will be a Boeing 787-9 featuring 34 lie-flat business class seats with enclosed suites – essentially the same product that was originally developed for Hawaiian Airlines.

Check out the seatmap on our Flight Seatmap tool when you're planning your booking.

Here's an interesting development: Hawaiian's four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners are being transferred to Alaska Airlines by early 2026. These aircraft will be rebadged in Alaska livery and used for the new international routes from Seattle – including London, Rome, and Reykjavik.

Hawaiian will continue operating its Airbus A330-200 fleet for long-haul routes to Asia and Australia. These aircraft feature a comfortable 2-4-2 configuration in economy and have been workhorses on routes like Honolulu to Tokyo and Sydney.

Alaska has also converted five remaining Boeing 787-9 orders to the larger 787-10 variant, which will offer more capacity for high-demand routes.

Once Hawaiian joins oneworld, your existing oneworld status will be recognised on Hawaiian flights. This means:

oneworld Sapphire (BA Silver equivalent): Priority check-in, priority boarding, extra baggage allowance, and business class lounge access

oneworld Emerald (BA Gold equivalent): All Sapphire benefits plus first class lounge access and priority security where available

For those of us with BA Gold status (like myself), this opens up a whole new network where our status will be recognised. Hawaiian operates lounges at Honolulu and other Hawaiian airports that will become accessible with oneworld Emerald status.

Check out our Airport Lounge List to see what lounges you'll have access to at various airports.

Hawaiian's addition caps off an impressive period of growth for the oneworld alliance. In 2025 alone, we've seen:

And there's more potentially on the horizon. Taiwan's Starlux Airlines has indicated it plans to apply for oneworld membership by the end of 2025, though whether they'll be accepted (given that Cathay Pacific has veto rights as a founding member) remains to be seen.

For Avios collectors, this expanding alliance means more destinations, more redemption options, and more places where your hard-earned status will be recognised. We've covered Oman Air's oneworld membership previously if you want to explore those options.

I'm genuinely excited about Hawaiian joining oneworld. While I've not yet made it to Hawaii (it's firmly on the bucket list), the ability to redeem Avios for flights there makes it feel much more achievable.

The timing with Alaska's new London Heathrow service is particularly convenient. From May 2026, you'll be able to fly a complete oneworld itinerary from London to Hawaii via Seattle – potentially booking the whole thing with Avios and getting your elite status recognised throughout.

The Spring 2026 timeframe (March to May) coincides with Hawaiian and Alaska moving to a single passenger service system, which should make booking and managing flights across both carriers much smoother.

If you're planning a Hawaii trip for late 2026 or beyond, I'd recommend starting to accumulate Avios now. Our guide to the best Avios earning credit cards is a good place to start if you're looking to build your balance.

I'll keep you updated as more details emerge. In the meantime, start dreaming about those Hawaiian beaches – they're about to become a lot more accessible with points.

Happy collecting,

Jack