Hawaiian Adds 100,000 Seats With Osaka Asia Expansion

By Sonia Isotov

Hawaiian Airlines took the next step in its growth strategy today by announcing new daily, nonstop flights between Honolulu and Osaka, Japan.

Hawaiian’s new Osaka flights will add approximately 100,000 new air seats annually to Hawaii from Japan, the state’s second-largest market for visitors.

Osaka will be the third city in Asia that Hawaiian has introduced to its route structure in recent months, following the start of service to Seoul in January 2011, and Tokyo in November 2010.

Subject to government approval, Hawaiian’s inaugural flight from Honolulu International Airport to Osaka’s Kansai International Airport is scheduled for July 12, with the inaugural return flight from Osaka to Honolulu on July 13.  

Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO, commented, “The response to our new Haneda service has been stronger than expected, and we have accelerated our plans to offer our authentic Hawaii travel experience to Osaka and Japan’s second most populous region. Our new service will help meet strong travel demand from Osaka, and provide a welcome boost to Hawaii tourism.”

With a population of approximately three million residents, Osaka is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and one of Japan’s major economic and commercial centers. Osaka is the largest segment of the Keihanshin Area, which also includes Kyoto and Kobe, and represents the second-largest area in Japan by population with more than 18 million residents.

Subject to Japan government approval, Hawaiian’s Flight #449 will depart Honolulu International Airport daily at 2:10 p.m. and arrive at Kansai International Airport at 6:00 p.m. the next day. Return Flight #450 will depart Osaka daily at 9:30 p.m. and arrive in Honolulu at 10:50 a.m. the same day. (Osaka is 19 hours ahead of Honolulu and the flight crosses the International Dateline.)

Hawaiian will initially operate the new Honolulu-Osaka flights with its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft seating up to 264 passengers, before introducing its new and larger 294-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft onto the route. Hawaiian is on schedule to welcome two new A330s to the fleet this year in the second and fourth quarter, along with three more A330s in 2012.