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Hawaiian Airlines’ plan for expansion into Asia and other destinations has taken a major step forward with the U.S. Department of Transportation giving final approval to its application to offer nonstop daily service between Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Honolulu International Airport.
Hawaiian’s first-ever commercial service to Japan is scheduled to begin Oct 31, and will add approximately 100,000 new air seats annually to Hawaii from its second-largest tourism market.
“Earning final approval to launch our new Tokyo service represents a huge step forward for the future of Hawaiian Airlines and is terrific news for Hawaii’s tourism industry,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO. “Hawaiian will bring much-needed competition to Tokyo, and we will offer superior service that allows our customers to start their Hawaii experience the moment they board our flights.”
Hawaiian’s nonstop daily flights are tentatively scheduled to depart Tokyo shortly before midnight and arrive in Honolulu around noon the same day, allowing travelers in Tokyo’s surrounding metropolitan area to leave after a full day of work and land in time to check in to a hotel and enjoy a first afternoon in Hawaii.
The return flight will depart Honolulu in the early evening, allowing customers to enjoy a full last day in Hawaii, and arrive in Tokyo in late evening the next day. (Tokyo is 19 hours ahead of Honolulu and the flight crosses the International Dateline.)
Adding to the convenience of Hawaiian’s new service is the central Tokyo location of Haneda Airport in contrast to Narita International Airport.
The new Tokyo-Honolulu route is a key step in Hawaiian’s long-term plan to expand its service in Asia and other destinations using up to 27 new Airbus A330s and A350s that the company plans to integrate into its fleet over the coming decade.
Hawaiian will initially serve Haneda Airport 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.
© Japan Today
6 Comments
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paulinusa
Good. More competition equals lower prices to Hawaii.
crazygaijin
i hope hawaiian will also accept air freight which will hopefully reduce the cost of import/export between here and hawaii
samter
They have been accepting frieght from MNL to HNL so I don't see why the wouldn't from haneda. When they first started from Manila prices dropped drastically but now are slightly lower than prior.
Sarge
Hawaii is the only prefecture that involves jet lag when you travel within Japan.
Elbuda Mexicano
Yes, Sarge, everybody will have jet lag from hell in the Japanese prefecture of Hawaii-ken.
kolohe
Because of the convenience of Haneda -- no longer requiring several hours to travel to Narita from outside central Tokyo -- the cost will be higher. It is a business so you choose between convenience from Haneda, at the higher cost, or the inconvenience of Narita, at a slightly lower cost. Nothing is ever free, even convenience.
Other carriers such as Delta, JAL, ANA and so on will also charge more for their new services from Haneda. Still with departures all at midnight or so can be seen as an inconvenience.