My parents were guests on the inaugural trip. Actually, WA only had the DC-10-10 series, and it couldn't perform over the ANC-LGW segment. I remember hearing the route could have succeeded if they had the right aircraft type. They were also competing with British Airways 747s Anchorage-Heathrow. Mike Anchorage, Alaska > WA flew HNL-LGW direct in 1979-1980. The aircraft stopped at ANC, > but the same aircraft (a DC-10-30) was used on both legs of the > flight. > WA said ANC was only 29 miles from the direct HNL-LGW great circle > route, so this would certainly be much faster than going via LAX. > Unfortunately, there wasn't much demand for travel from LGW to > either ANC or HNL, so the route was dropped after only 9 months. > > Joe Wolf > Minneapolis, Minnesota > > Codes: > > WA: Western Airlines > HNL: Honolulu, Hawaii > ANC: Anchorage, Alaska > LGW: London-Gatwick, England > LAX: Los Angeles, California >