Hawaiian Airlines Launches Non-Stop Service to China

Forbidden City, Beijing, China. Morguefile photo.

By Sonia Isotov

Hawaiian Airlines today announced plans to launch non-stop service between Honolulu and Beijing, China in April 2014, pending approvals by US and Chinese regulatory agencies.

“I want to congratulate Hawaiian Airlines for its continued expansion into the Pacific Rim,” Gov. Neil Abercrombie said in a media release. “Both China’s and Hawaii’s economies will be the direct beneficiaries.”

The Hawai’i Tourism Authority estimates the new service will generate $81 million in annual visitor expenditures and $8.47 million in tax revenue for Hawai’i.

“This new non-stop service will help to significantly grow visitor arrivals and expenditures from our highest spending visitor market,” said Mike McCartney, president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

“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 will be launched from Honolulu on April 16, 2014 and will operate three times a week using a 294-seat A330 aircraft. It will be the only non-stop service between Honolulu and Beijing.

Hawaiian Airlines also today announced it will discontinue its under-performing non-stop Manila service this summer.

“High fuel prices and low fares have plagued this particular route and while we have made several efforts to improve the economic performance of our Manila service, we’ve concluded that the route will not be a commercial success,” explained Peter Ingram, Hawaiian’s chief commercial officer.

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 airline’s reservations department will make arrangements with other airlines serving Manila to accommodate customers who have ticketed reservations after Aug. 1, and continue to accept reservations for travel prior to the discontinuation date, provided all travel is completed by Aug. 1.