US's Northern Pacific Air outlines fleet growth, ACMI plans

US's Northern Pacific Airways pivots back to the Pacific

Northern Pacific Airways (7H, Anchorage Ted Stevens) has shelved its relatively short-lived plans to fly between the United States and Mexico as it pivots back to its namesake region. The start-up says it is on track to commence revenue flights in 1H 2023 but has refocused on the original plan of flying between US cities and North Asian ports via Anchorage.

Speaking after one of Northern Pacific's four B757-200s touched down in Anchorage last week, CEO Rob McKinney said that he aimed to be flying from San Francisco, CA, Ontario, Orlando Int'l, and New York to Anchorage and onto South Korea and Japan by the Northern Hemisphere spring.

"We are expecting to put that the route application in December," McKinney told aviation reporter Fangzhong Guo in an interview. "That takes anywhere between 30 and 45 days. Then we can take a look at when we can start selling tickets."

With Russian airspace closed, the airline now needs ETOPS certification to operate any flights to Asia. Lacking ETOPS, Northern Pacific is...

US's Northern Pacific Airways faces trademark lawsuit

Northern Pacific Airways (7H, Anchorage Ted Stevens) is facing legal action from the BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) which claims to own the rights to the Northern Pacific brand name and marks. BNSF launched the suit on October 21 in the US District Court (Northern District of Texas).

BNSF operates a railway network that takes in 32,500 route miles in 28 US states and three Canadian provinces and operates over 1,200 freight trains a day. In their sights is Float Alaska IP, LLC, the parent company behind Northern Pacific Airways, a startup airline with ambitions to link the US with North Asia via Anchorage.

In BNSF's complaint, viewed by ch-aviation, the railroad company says its predecessors have been providing railway transportation services in association with the Northern Pacific brand since 1893. In 1970, Northern Pacific Railways merged with other railways to form the Burlington Northern Railroad. That entity and Santa Fe merged in 1995 to become the Burlington and Santa Fe Railway, which rebranded in 2005 to the BNSF Railway Company. BNSF retains title to three...

Northern Marianas Airways mulls Northern Pacific B757 lease

Saipan-based startup Marianas Pacific Airlines (Saipan) d/b/a Northern Marianas Airways is reportedly negotiating with Northern Pacific Airways (7H, Anchorage Ted Stevens) to wet lease B757-200s to begin passenger flights to Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines before the end of 2023.

The Marianas Variety newspaper is reporting that a B757-200 is scheduled to land at Saipan International Airport on Tuesday, October 18, and will remain at the airport until October 23 while the startup airline lobbies tourism and government officials for support. If the airline gets off the ground, it will become the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) first international carrier.

"This is an opportunity to demonstrate to stakeholders the high level of service that we are able to provide with this aircraft type and to show that the CNMI can have an airline that our citizens can be extremely proud of," Northern Marianas Airways President Keith Stewart told the newspaper. "Importantly, the provision of direct flights to Saipan from Australia, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines will be transformational for...

US's Northern Pacific Air moots 1Q23 debut; Ravn eyes ATRs