Three new Hawaiian Airlines routes will connect the neighbor islands to the West Coast.
The airline announced Monday that in early 2018 it will add daily direct routes between Portland, Ore., and Maui; Oakland, Calif., and Kauai; and Los Angeles and Kona.
Hawaiian’s acquisition of new Airbus A321neo jets enabled the expansion, the airline said. The jets hold 189 passengers.
“The introduction of A321neo service to the Western U.S. heralds the dawn of a new era for Hawaiian Airlines,” said Peter Ingram, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Hawaiian Airlines, in a statement.
Hawaiian Airlines said additional routes will be announced as the airline brings on 18 A321neo jets between the fourth quarter of 2017 and 2020.
“We look forward to announcing additional routes in the months and years ahead,” Ingram said.
Members of Hawaii’s tourism industry said the added routes will help bolster tourism on the neighbor islands.
“We applaud Hawaiian Airlines for recognizing the need to increase direct service to the neighbor islands,” said George Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority. “This is great news for the residents and businesses on the neighbor islands who will benefit from these new flights, and to the travelers in these key West Coast markets who are always looking for new options to enjoy a stay in the Hawaiian Islands.”
Keith Vieria, principal of KV &Associates Hospitality Consulting, said the flights will help the neighbor islands fill open hotel rooms, as 85 percent of the neighbor islands’ visitors come from the mainland.
“If you put Hawaii within a five- to six-hour reach to people, they’re going to choose Hawaii every time,” Vieria said. “We also have more availability in hotels across the board on neighbor islands. (This is) putting seats to where hotel rooms are.”
The service between Portland and Maui will launch in January. The first flight from Maui to Portland is scheduled to leave Jan. 18.
The airline’s seasonal service between Oakland and Kauai will continue until Sept. 4. The route will begin again April 11 as a daily A321neo flight.
The daily flight between Los Angeles and Kona launches March 11 with wide-body aircraft. Hawaiian Airlines said the A321neo will be introduced to this route in the summer of 2018.
Hawaiian Airlines’ first scheduled flight between the West Coast and Hawaii using its new A321neo jet will be on Jan. 8 on an existing Oakland-to-Maui route.
“Any direct flight from anywhere in the world, whether the U.S. mainland or internationally, is always great for Hawaii,” Elizabeth Churchill, owner of Churchill Group LLC, said. “Airlift into the state of Hawaii is always a boom for the economy.”
