Hawaiian plans to fly to the land of the kiwi

Hawaiian Airlines, the one-time regional carrier that is making an aggressive push into the international market, is heading to a new country.

The state’s oldest airline said Sunday it will offer nonstop flights between Hono­lulu and Auckland, New Zealand, three times a week beginning March 13. This will mark Hawaiian’s eighth new destination since expanding service in November 2010 to Tokyo.

It also comes less than a month after Hawaiian announced it would begin three-days-a-week service to Brisbane, Australia, on Nov. 27. With this latest flight, Hawaiian will now fly three routes to the Oceania region that comprises Australia and New Zealand. Hawaiian already offers daily service to Sydney after debuting there in May 2004.

Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, said he wouldn’t label the company as either a regional or global carrier at this point.

"We’re clearly more than a regional carrier," he said. "We’re going to have revenues by the time this year is over of roughly $2 billion. At the same time, we’re really focused on selling Hawaii as a destination, but it’s not our strategic intention to connect people from one corner of the globe to another as a global carrier would."

New Zealand has been a small yet growing market for the state, with 20,730 arrivals in 2011, up 15.4 percent from 2010, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Through May of this year, arrivals from New Zealand were up 5.1 percent from the same period a year ago.

Spending from New Zealand visitors in Hawaii hit $38 million in 2011.

But Dunkerley said visitor numbers are down from where they were during parts of the 1980s and 1990s, and that he saw an opportunity to tap into that market.

"New Zealand has really enjoyed good economic performance over the latest period, the New Zealand dollar has strengthened appreciably against the U.S. dollar and we believe this market is underserved," he said. "Traffic is lower than it has been in the past, and we think that is due for a change."

Mike McCartney, president and CEO of HTA, called the New Zealand route "more positive news for Hawaii’s tourism economy" and said the additional service has the potential to bring in up to an estimated $50 million in annual visitor spending and $5.4 million in tax revenue.

"Hawaiian is our hometown carrier, and increased expansion to Asia and Oceania gets into our long-term strategy for growth into the region," he said.

The 82-year-old airline, which until two years ago primarily focused on the American West, has been in a torrid international expansion mode since inaugurating daily nonstop service to Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport.

It has added nonstop flights to Osaka, Fuku­oka and Sapporo, Japan, as well as to Seoul and Brisbane. In June it also began daily service to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to mark its first nonstop flight to the East Coast.

"Hawaiian is looking to be the principal carrier serving the Hawaiian Islands, and to achieve that it’s important that we grow our service and our network to those parts of the world that generate visitor arrivals to Hawaii," Dunkerley said.

Air New Zealand, which flies between Auckland and Hono­lulu three times a week, is the only other carrier that flies nonstop between the two cities.

"New Zealanders are avid travelers, and we believe the introduction of new nonstop flights with our winning brand of service will be welcomed in meeting pent-up demand for a Hawaii vacation," Dunkerley said. "At the same time, our new service will offer Hawaii residents easy access to the natural wonders and Maori culture of New Zealand."

Auckland, located on the north island of New Zealand, is the country’s largest city, and on Feb. 1 its population hit 1.5 million, according to Statistics New Zealand. Auckland is home to about one-third of the country’s 4.4 million people.

Travel officials in New Zealand welcomed the additional service.

"This new service will help not only to grow the attractive Hawaiian market across a number of islands, but also will offer fantastic and conveniently timed connections to a wide range of great city destinations in the mainland United States and New Zealand," said Glenn Wedlock, aeronautical-commercial general manager at Auckland Airport. "The New Zealand travel industry has been calling for more capacity and better connections on this route for some time, so this announcement will be welcomed with open arms."

Kevin Bowler, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, sees the new route as a significant step in improving visitor arrivals from the United States and strengthening relations between the two countries.

"The United States is a vital market for New Zealand leisure and business travel, and is a key focus for our marketing efforts given the significant potential for growth that exists," Bowler said. "The timing of this new service is ideal as the (film) release of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (in December) will heighten interest in New Zealand and no doubt whet Americans’ appetite for travel here."

Even with the Sapporo, Brisbane and Auckland routes yet to get underway, Dunkerley said Hawaiian is monitoring about a dozen potential new routes for the airline.

"Some lie in markets where we already have a presence; some are in entirely new markets for us," he said. "As we get closer to the next slate of aircraft deliveries in 2013, we’ll be looking to see which of these markets look best at that time, and that more than anything will determine what’s next."

Hawaiian, which has been phasing out its 264-seat Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 294-seat Airbus A330-200s, now has nine A330s in its fleet with five more due next year beginning in the spring or early summer. Hawaiian initially will service the New Zealand route with a Boeing 767.