STAR-ADVERTISER / APRIL 4, 2019
A Hawaiian Airlines jet sits at the gate for the carrier’s inaugural Honolulu-Boston flight in 2019. The direct service will end in November, the airline announced today.
Hawaiian Airlines announced today that it is suspending service in November on three underperforming routes, including service between Honolulu and Boston, Incheon, South Korea, and Fukuoka, Japan.
Airline executives said the changes will allow the carrier to redeploy aircraft to boost flights between Honolulu and Sydney, Australia, Papeete, Tahiti, Los Angeles and Seattle, and support operations across its Hawaii network.
”It’s always a difficult decision to suspend a route, especially in cities like Seoul, which we have enjoyed serving for over 14 years. However, despite our team’s best efforts, soft post-pandemic travel demand from Asia combined with various market challenges have persisted in Seoul, as well as in Fukuoka and Boston, both of which we entered in 2019,” Hawaiian Airlines CEO Joe Sprague said in a news release.
The network changes are in line with expectations for route changes following Alaska Air Group’s Sept. 18 acquisition of Hawaiian Holdings, the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, for $1.9 billion. In December, Alaska unveiled Alaska Accelerate, the airline’s strategic vision for the combined company, which it said is on track to unlock $1 billion in additional pretax profit by 2027.
Hawaiian will operate its last flights from Fukuoka and Boston to Honolulu on Nov. 19, and from Incheon to Honolulu on Nov. 21. Affected customers will be offered options for other flights or receive a refund, the airline said.
Sprague said the carrier remains committed ” to continuing to provide robust Hawaiian Airlines service between Asia and Hawaii through our nonstop Japan flights, and via one-stop connections to and from Incheon and beyond with our global partner airlines.”
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“These adjustments will ensure we are meeting strong demand for travel to Hawaii – both internationally and domestically – while providing all our guests access to more destinations,” he said.
In addition to the route cuts, Hawaiian is expanding capacity to meet current market demand. Hawaiian’s network changes include:
>> Increasing Honolulu-Sydney service with daily flights, up from five weekly flights, from Dec. 18 through Jan. 31.
>> Offering two weekly Honolulu-Papeete flights, up from one weekly flight, starting in March.
>> Launching a fifth daily flight between Honolulu and Los Angeles in peak seasons, starting Nov. 21 to Dec. 1, and Dec. 19 to Jan. 6.
>> Adding a fourth Honolulu-Seattle daily flight from late November to mid-April.
Hawaiian said passengers may continue to fly between Hawaii and Incheon or Fukuoka via one-stop itineraries through Hawaiian’s twice-daily Honolulu-Haneda and daily Osaka services or on partner carriers, including oneworld alliance members.
On Sept. 12, Hawaiian also will begin five times a week flights between Seattle and Incheon. Passengers flying between Honolulu and Boston may connect daily on Alaska Airlines’ flights via via Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and San Diego, the airline said.