Hawaiian Airlines today announced it plans to launch non-stop service between Honolulu and Beijing, China in April 2014, pending approvals by U.S. and Chinese regulatory agencies.
The new service, Hawaiian’s tenth new international destination since November 2010, will allow visitors from China’s capital city to access Hawaiian’s extensive network, serving the Hawaiian Islands and U.S. mainland.
“A scheduled flight between China and Hawai’i has long been an aspiration of Hawaiian and the travel industry in our state, and because the barriers to visitor travel from China to america slowly come down, we believe there’ll be significant demand for a Hawai’i vacation and Hawaiian Airlines,” said Mark Dunkerley , Hawaiian Airlines’ president and CEO. “With our network of flights between the islands and from Hawai’i to 11 cities within the U.S. mainland, Hawaiian is in an exceptional position to give the multi-stop itinerary that many visitors from China prefer.”
“I desire to congratulate Hawaiian Airlines for its continued expansion into the Pacific Rim,” said Gov. Neil Abercrombie . “Hawai’i is the anchor of the Asia Pacific region and this non-stop service to Beijing will give China greater access to Hawai’i, to be able to become one in all China’s fundamental visitor destinations. Both China’s and Hawai’i’s economies may be the direct beneficiaries. i’ve every confidence this non-stop service by Hawaiian Airlines will enhance the cultural understanding that already exists between China and Hawai’i.”
The Hawai’i Tourism Authority estimates the recent service will generate $81 million in annual visitor expenditures and $8.47 million in tax revenue for Hawai’i.
“This new non-stop service might be useful to noticeably grow visitor arrivals and expenditures from our highest spending visitor market,” said Mike McCartney , president and CEO of the HTA. “The China market continues to grow year-over-year, and we anticipate further growth in 2013, targeting double-digit increases in arrivals (+25% to 144,910 visitors) and expenditures (+27% to $348 million).”
The new service can be launched from Honolulu on April 16, 2014 and could operate 3 times each week using a 294-seat A330 aircraft. It is going to be the one non-stop service between Honolulu and Beijing, which has a population of greater than 20 million.
Subject to government approvals, Hawaiian’s Flight HA 887 will depart Honolulu International Airport at 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, cross the international dateline, and land at Beijing Capital International Airport at 7:30 p.m. day after today.
Hawaiian’s Flight HA 888 will depart Beijing at 9:30 p.m. every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, cross the international dateline, and arrive in Honolulu at 1:05 p.m. an analogous day.
Travelers on Hawaiian Airlines enjoy an inflight experience not offered by every other airline. From the instant travelers board their Hawaiian Airlines flight, the airline’s renown ’ Mea Ho ‘okipa’ (translation: i’m host) onboard hospitality engages customers through the flight with its warm and friendly celebration of the culture, people and Aloha Spirit of the Hawaiian Islands.
Manila Service Discontinued
Hawaiian Airlines also today announced it could discontinue its underperforming non-stop Manila service this summer.
Hawaiian Airlines flight HA 455 will make its final trip from Honolulu to Manila on July 31, and HA 456 will make its final return from Manila to Honolulu on Aug. 1, 2013. The service, which operates four times a week, was inaugurated in April 2008.
The airline’s reservations department will make arrangements with other airlines serving Manila to deal with customers who’ve ticketed reservations after Aug. 1, and can be contacting affected passengers with new accommodations.
The airline will continue to simply accept reservations for travel ahead of the discontinuation date, provided all travel is finished by Aug. 1, 2013.
“High fuel prices and coffee fares have plagued this actual route and while we’ve got made several efforts to enhance the industrial performance of our Manila service, including adjusting our flight schedule to optimize connections and upgrading to newer A330 aircraft, we’ve concluded that the route is probably not a commercial success,” explained Peter Ingram , Hawaiian’s chief commercial officer.