Five-year-old Ava Prysock got off the plane from Washington, D.C., with plenty of energy thanks to United Airlines’ new nonstop service between Dulles and Honolulu international airports.
"I’m ready to go visit family," Prysock said.
The tot’s parents estimated that the 9 1/2-hour flight shaved about five hours of travel off their Hawaii vacation.
"Yeah, this was really nice. We’ll definitely be taking this flight again," said Ava’s mom, Brittany Prysock.
The direct flight that carried the Prysocks is the only one between Honolulu and Washington, D.C., which along with Baltimore makes up Hawaii’s 10th-largest market for visitors, said Daniel Nahoopii, HTA’s director of tourism research.
The new service, which also connects Hawaii to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Qatar, is expected to pump $135 million in visitor spending and $14 million in tax revenues into Hawaii’s economy. The daily service will help Hawaii grow its lucrative, higher-spending U.S. East visitor market and create opportunities to improve meetings, incentives and convention business, especially from the associations and government side, said Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO Mike McCartney.
"United helped Hawaii’s tourism economy grow back in the 1970s, and they’ve been a great partner over the years," McCartney said. "It’s good to see them step up. Now we need to stay on task and keep the momentum going forward."
Mike Navares, general manager for United Airlines in Honolulu, said the Dulles service reflects a serious commitment to Hawaii.
"Hawaii is our little corner of the world," Navares said. "We are the largest carrier to service Hawaii, and we appreciate all of our travel partners."
United’s newest flight augments the 10 nonstop flights that it already offers with seven U.S. cities and two international cities, he said. It could bring up to 256 more travelers to Hawaii daily, Navares said.
"We match capacity with demand," he said. "There’s been a lot of interest from Dulles. We think it’s going to be a very successful route."
Hawaii’s visitor industry has been aggressively growing airlift from the U.S. East since seats were lost in the mid-2000s as airlines focused on routes catering to high-yielding business travelers and mergers took their toll, Nahoopii said.
"We lost a lot of service during that time," he said.
U.S. East market numbers in the year to date (through April) continue to reflect a downturn.
Factoring in the new direct service, HTA has set more aggressive U.S. East targets, McCartney said. The goal is for U.S. East arrivals to grow to 1.7 million, a 3.2 percent increase over 2011, and visitor spending to rise 4.6 percent to nearly $3.3 billion.
"This will be the first year of real growth for the U.S. East since 2007," McCartney said.
Hawaii has benefited from the recent push by carriers to turn leisure travel into a profitable market by using more efficient planes and better yield management, Nahoopii said.
Terry Williams, a travel agent with MLT Vacations in Edina, Minn., said nonstop service between Washington, D.C., and Honolulu will help Hawaii compete against Mexico and the Caribbean, destinations that once offered easier access to mainland customers.
"It will give travelers another beach destination that’s easy to get to," Williams said as she deplaned and was greeted with lei, live music and hula Friday evening.
However, state tourism leaders say they are just as excited about the new flight’s potential to grow Hawaii’s lesser-known business travel brand.
"The new daily United Airlines nonstop flight from Washington, D.C., will provide added convenience and accessibility from the critical East Coast meetings market to Honolulu," said Joe Davis, SMG general manager of the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
The service is generating a buzz among meeting planners since Washington, D.C., along with Virginia and Maryland, is part of the tri-state hub for the association industry, said Mike Murray, vice president of sales and marketing at the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.
"It’s really hot news," Murray said. "It will definitely increase business because it helps Hawaii break the time barrier. Being able to hop on a flight and come here with ease is a great benefit."
The added convenience means that groups that may have passed over Hawaii might take a second look, he said.
"This flight, along with the direct New York City flight launched by Hawaiian Airlines earlier this month, will open up opportunities with important government and association groups, helping us continue to showcase Hawaii as a premier destination for international meetings," Davis said.
With the addition of nonstop service to Washington, D.C., the only cities in the top 20 markets for Hawaii tourism without nonstop service are Boston and Philadelphia, Nahoopii said.
