New Bay Area Routes Adding 107,000 Air Seats

Hawaiian Airlines, photo by Wendy Osher.

By Sonia Isotov

Hawaiian Airlines announced yesterday the addition of 107,000 new air seats annually on their Bay Area to Hawaii route.

The new seats reflects the upcoming transition to Airbus A330-200 service from San Francisco to Honolulu, and the launch of previously announced new flights to Maui from San José and Oakland.

Starting November 6, Hawaiian will upgrade its service between San Francisco and Honolulu with the introduction of the A330, its newest and largest aircraft, on its daily nonstop flights. Then, in January, Hawaiian launched new flights from both San José and Oakland.

“Demand for our service to Hawaii from the Bay Area is growing and we are responding with more capacity and more choices,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO in a written statement. “In a two-month period, Hawaiian will significantly improve air service to Hawaii for Bay Area travelers, first with the transition to our new A330 aircraft for San Francisco flights in November, followed by the introduction of nonstop wide-body service to Maui from Oakland and San José in January.”

Hawaiian Airlines newest aircraft, the 294-seat Airbus A330-200, is seen flying above Molokai. (PRNewsFoto/Hawaiian Airlines, Chad Slattery)

Hawaiian’s transition from its 264-seat, wide-body, twin-aisle Boeing B767-300 aircraft to the 294-seat, wide-body, twin-aisle A330 aircraft will add nearly 11,000 seats annually from San Francisco to Honolulu alone.

In addition to new interiors, economy class customers on the A330s will also notice increased legroom, and state-of-the-art, on-demand entertainment systems with high-resolution LCD touch-screen monitors in each seatback to select from a wide variety of movies and video programs, audio channels and video games. Each system also includes a USB port allowing connectivity for personal media players. First class customers on Hawaiian’s A330s also enjoy larger in-seat LCD screens and iPod compatibility.

Hawaiian’s Flight #11 departs San Francisco International Airport daily at 9:05 a.m. and arrives at Honolulu International Airport at 12:20 p.m. The return Flight #12 departs Honolulu daily at 2:05 p.m. and arrives in San Francisco at 9:10 p.m.

Hawaiian’s new flights to Maui from the Bay Area will add more than 96,000 seats annually with the January launch of nonstop service three days weekly from San José (January 10), and four days weekly from Oakland (January 11).

Starting January 10, Hawaiian Flight #46 will depart Maui’s Kahului Airport on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 1:25 p.m. and arrive at Mineta San José International Airport at 8:25 p.m. The return Flight #45 will depart San José on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 8:10 a.m. and arrive at Maui at 11:45 a.m.

Starting January 11, Hawaiian Flight #24 will depart Maui’s Kahului Airport on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 1:25 p.m. and arrive at Oakland International Airport at 8:25 p.m. The return Flight #23 will depart Oakland on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 8:10 a.m. and arrive at Maui at 11:40 a.m.