China Eastern Airlines has canceled four Shanghai-to-Honolulu flights this month, dealing a minor setback to the state’s efforts to lure traffic from the world’s most populous country.
Regular flights scheduled for Friday, Tuesday, Oct. 21 and Oct. 26 were scrapped, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which couldn’t immediately ascertain the reason for the cancellations.
China Eastern will resume flights to Honolulu on Oct. 28, HTA said.
The carrier began regular service to Hawaii in August, the first such service between China and Hawaii.
The new service was projected to bring about 82,000 Chinese visitors to Hawaii this year, an increase of 24 percent, according to HTA. Service initially was expected to run twice a week through January.
"Following strong bookings to Hawaii during China’s long ‘National Day’ holiday period, China Eastern Airlines suspended four flights on its Shanghai to Honolulu route," Mike McCartney, HTA president and CEO, said in a news release. "All flights ongoing from Oct. 28, 2011, remain scheduled as planned, operating twice weekly at approximately 75 percent load factor. Demand from China to visit the Hawaiian Islands remains high. However, obtaining visas to travel to the U.S. continues to be an obstacle."
Keith Vieira, senior vice president and director of operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., Hawaii and French Polynesia, called the cancellations "a sideways delay" for the state’s tourism industry.
"We know the visa situation is going to be a challenge," he said. "The good news is they view the Hawaii brand as strong. Both the state and individual companies have done the groundwork to create demand and grow the market, but at the end of the day, they can’t come unless they have air seats. While this may be a delay in the overall process, I think it’s a matter of the market getting used to booking direct flights to Hawaii. I would say this is a sideways delay, but not an ‘all that work for nothing.’ "
