USA: Hawaiian Longest Domestic Nonstop Flight In USA Starts April 4th 2019

Hawaiian Airlines begins nonstop flights between its hub in Honolulu (HNL) and Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS) starting on April 4, 2019.

This new flight will becomes longest domestic route in the history of the United States, measuring 4427.43nm. The HNL-BOS route beats the current HNL-JFK route that the airline operates, which is at 4330.10 nm.

But the route between Boston and Honolulu falls short by almost 800 miles to become the world’s longest, which is the Paris-Reunion route (5,047.88 nm), served by Air Austral and Air France.

Approximate flying time between Boston and Honolulu will be at 11 hours, 40 minutes.

Peter Ingram, Hawaiian Airlines CEO, said that he looks forward to sharing our warm hospitality with our New England guests whose vacation starts the minute they check in and step onto our plane.

The airline plans to introduce this route on a 4 times a week basis. According to Hawaiian, the Boston-Honolulu market generates over $76 million in ticket sales every year, on average 500 passengers flying between these cities every day.

Hawaiian is a unique airline because we have represented Hawai‘i for nearly a century while flying people to, from and between the Hawaiian Islands.

In July, the Hawaiian carrier also announced daily nonstop flights between Sacramento, California (SMF) and Kahului, Maui (OGG), set to begin on April 1, 2019.

The carrier’s growth has gained a higher momentum this year, following the order for 20 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, featuring 10 firm and 10 purchase rights, at list prices of $2.82 billion.

On top of that, the carrier took delivery of its first U.S-Produced Airbus A321neo, straight from the manufacturer’s assembly line in Alabama.

As the carrier receives a total of 18 A321neos through 2020, they will be looking to announce additional routes between the U.S. West Coast and the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Airlines notes that the new Boston service will depart HNL every day but Tuesday and Wednesday at 13:45 Local Time. and arrive at BOS the following morning at 06:00 Local Time.

Flight HA91 will depart BOS every day but Wednesday and Thursday at 08:55 Local Time., except for Friday flights, which will depart at 08:00 Local Time.


Tourism Observer

USA: Delta to Add Seattle-Osaka Service in Partnership with Korean Air

Delta is adding nonstop service to Osaka-Kansai (KIX), Japan, starting in 2019, complementing its existing international network.

As Seattle’s global airline, Delta offers service to the top destinations throughout Asia, and additional access to Japan is important for our Seattle customers as well as the business community throughout Washington state and beyond, said Tony Gonchar, Delta’s vice president — Seattle.

We’re pleased to offer another key business destination with our new nonstop Osaka service from Seattle.

Delta will fly the new route with one of the airline’s Boeing 767-300ER equipped with 25 fully flat-bed seats in Delta One, 29 seats Delta Comfort+ and 171 seats in the Main Cabin.

Every seat has access to Wi-Fi, free personal in-flight seatback entertainment screens and power ports.

Meals, created in partnership with Delta’s Michelin two-star consulting chef Norio Ueno will be featured in all cabins of service.

Schedule details will be released at a later date. Delta today at Osaka offers daily service to Honolulu, making Seattle its second nonstop U.S. destination from the Japanese city.

Delta has made the difficult business decision to cease Seattle-Hong Kong service, with the last flight out of Hong Kong on Oct. 4. Delta will continue to serve Hong Kong from Seattle via Seoul-ICN, with its joint venture partner Korean Air.

Delta continues to make significant investments in the Puget Sound region and remains Seattle’s No. 1 global carrier, said Gonchar.

We look forward to serving our customers this summer as we operate our busiest schedule yet at our Seattle hub with more than 170 peak-day departures to more than 50 destinations.

The Seattle-Osaka route will be included in Delta’s joint venture partnership with Korean Air, which serves 12 destinations in Japan — giving shared customers optimized schedules, a more seamless customer experience and improved loyalty program benefits.

Giving customers more choices between the U.S. and Asia, the launch of Seattle-Osaka is another milestone in building the industry’s best trans-Pacific joint venture with Korean Air, said Matteo Curcio, vice president — Asia Pacific.


Tourism Observer

HAWAII: Hawaiian Airlines And South African Airways Partner In New Interline Agreement

South African Airways and Hawaiian Airlines established a new interline agreement providing new and convenient flight options for both SAA and Hawaiian customers traveling between the Hawai’ian Islands and South Africa.

The partnership offers increased convenience to customers by allowing travel on one single ticket and through interline baggage transfer upon check-in with either SAA or Hawaiian Airlines in the United States or Southern Africa.

This new interline partnership enable SAA and Hawaiian Airlines to broaden their route networks to provide some of the fastest connections between Hawai’i and destinations throughout Africa, said Todd Neuman, executive vice president, Americas, South African Airways.

Our mutual customers will enjoy the warm traditional South African and Hawai’ian Island hospitality throughout their journey from two award-winning airlines.

With immediate effect, customers can purchase a single itinerary for travel on flights of both carriers allowing passengers to enjoy connections via New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport between Hawaiian Airlines’ neighbor island network in Hawai’i and in more than 75 destinations served by SAA.

JFK is a primary gateway for SAA in North America, with daily non-stop service to South Africa, allowing the new partnership to provide convenient connections.

Hawaiian Airlines flights from Honolulu, Hawai’i (HNL) to Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB) depart Hawai’i at 3:10 p.m., and arrive at JFK 6:55 a.m. the next morning. SAA serviced flights depart JFK 11:15 a.m., and arrive in JNB at 8:05 a.m., the next morning.

Flights from JNB to HNL depart JNB at 9 p.m. and arrive in JFK at 6:40 a.m., while flights serviced by Hawaiian Airlines depart JFK at 10 a.m., and arrive in Honolulu at 3:05 p.m.

WOW Air Takes Delivery Of A320neo And Hawaiian Airlines Debuts its New Premium Cabins

WOW Air, the low-fare airline based in Iceland, has taken delivery of its first A320neo on lease from Air Lease Corporation. WOW Air is an all Airbus operator with 12 aircraft in its fleet to date.

WOW Air selected the A320neo for its low operating costs and fuel efficiency character. The aircraft will feature a single-class cabin layout with 180 seats. The airline has chosen CFM engines to power the aircraft that will be used to operate throughout Europe routes.

The A320neo Family has received over 5,000 orders from over 90 customers. The aircraft family includes new generation engines and Sharklet wing-tip devices, bringing 15 percent in fuel savings to carriers.

As the airline said, this new delivery “will strengthen the airline’s fleet and expand its network” that comprises today 30 international routes throughout Europe and North America.

Hawaiian Airlines’ new lie-flat seats and Premium Cabins debuted their service from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK), joining Tokyo (Narita), Brisbane and Sydney, Australia as the destinations in which the airline currently offers its new cabin products.

The business class cabin in Hawaiian Airlines’ Airbus A330s includes 18 lie-flat seats. The airline collaborated with California-based consultancy PaulWylde to incorporate the new seat, evocative of elements of the winds and ocean, while mating organic textures and a sand and sea color palette throughout the cabin.

Aligned in a 2-2-2 configuration, the Optimares-designed seats are ideally tailored to leisure guests (couples, families, honeymooners), while offering superior functionality to the business traveler.

Besides the new seat, the airline has introduced new designer amenity kits, new custom cocktails through an exclusive partnership with On The Rocks premium cocktails, featuring all-natural ingredients, and new first class menus from the airline’s Featured Chef Series, featuring menus from Hawaii’s top chefs on a six-month rotation.

The island state airline has also increased the number of premium economy seats from 40 to 68. Dubbed the Extra Comfort, the product features 36 inches of seat pitch, priority boarding at the gate, complimentary on-demand in-seat entertainment, and a personal power outlet.

With the new configuration, the seat number in Hawaiian’s A330-200s will decrease from 294 to 278 while the fleet is being retrofitted with the new cabin configuration through 2017.

Hawaii’s tourism industry established new records in visitor arrivals in 2016. According to data from Hawaii Tourism Authority, over 8.9 million visitors came to Hawaii in 2016, representing a 3 percent increase compared to 2015, including an increase in arrivals from all regions of the east coast. Particularly, the New York City – Hawaii non-stop traffic increased by 14% year over year.

USA: A Blanket Dispute Causes Flight From Las Vegas To Honolulu To Be Diverted

A flight from Las Vegas to Honolulu was diverted to Los Angeles on Wednesday after a passenger refused to pay $12 for a blanket and was accused of being unruly, police said.

The incident unfolded after the Hawaiian Airlines flight took off from Las Vegas and the passenger a 66 year old man requested a blanket as he was cold, Officer Rob Pedregon, a spokesman for the Los Angeles airport police said.

When told he would have to fork out $12 for the blanket, the unidentified man got upset and demanded to speak to a corporate representative from the airline, Pedregon said.

”During the in-flight call he allegedly said‘I would like to take someone behind the woodshed for this’ and the pilot deemed that to be threatening behavior and ordered that the plane be diverted to Los Angeles,” he said.

Police and FBI agents met with the passenger and crew when the plane landed in Los Angeles and determined after questioning both sides that no crime had been committed, Pedregon said.

The man voluntarily abandoned his flight and caught another one, he said.

Pedregon said the incident may not be the oddest he has handled “but it ranks right up there.”

”You know, if I was a passenger on board that plane I would have paid the $12 dollars for him,” he chuckled.

USA: Hawaii Tourism Industry Performing Well

A strong U.S. economy helped lift Hawaii tourism industry to another record-breaking year.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority's director of tourism research says the recovering U.S. housing market boosted travel to the islands. Daniel Nahoopii says stable oil prices have also helped.

Nahoopii spoke Monday after the state agency reported a record 8.9 million travelers came to Hawaii last year. Spending rose to a record $15.6 billion in 2016.

Nahoopii says the introduction of new airline routes and service brought more travelers to the islands. For example, Virgin America began flying to Honolulu and Kahului from San Francisco in late 2015.

He says Hawaii has benefited from relatively stable exchange rates for the Korean won and Australian dollar and a slight strengthening of the Japanese yen.

Nearly 9 million visitors traveled to Hawaii last year as the state broke records for tourist arrivals and spending.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority said Monday 8.9 million visitors came to the state in 2016. That's 3 percent more than the previous year.

Visitors spent $15.6 billion while in the islands, a 4 percent increase over 2015.

It's the fifth straight year visitor arrival and spending figures have broken records.

Travelers from the western half of the continental U.S. grew 4.3 percent to 3.7 million. Travelers from the eastern part of the continental U.S. climbed 3.7 percent to 1.9 million.

Visitor traffic from Japan was little changed from the previous year at 1.5 million.

HAWAII: Hawaiian Airlines To Upgrade Business Class

Hawaiian Airlines, the pink and friendly airline serving America's 50th state, has announced that it is refurbishing its business class and premium economy product on its A330 including lie flat seats in business and more seating capacity in Premium economy.

The upgraded aircraft will fly routes between between Honolulu and Australia from summer 2016. Already reknowned as a great way to fly, the new seats and upgraded in-flight product are in line with Hawaiian's stated mission to become the premium carrier of choice for flights to its home state.

USA: Virgin America Starts Daily Flights To Honolulu

New flight to Hawaii – really? I would never have guessed. On hand to celebrate the start of Virgin America’s San Francisco to Honolulu route is the shy and retiring Richard Branson. The service will be flown daily and started on 2 November.

Virgin America began daily services on the San Francisco (SFO) to Honolulu (HNL) city pair on 2 November. United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will compete, offering 36 and daily frequencies respectively.

The 3,853-kilometre route will be flown by the airline’s A320 fleet.

“Our loyal Bay Area travelers, and especially our Elevate frequent flyers, have been asking for an island escape for some time, and as of today they have a fresh option for their Hawaii travels,” said Virgin America President and CEO David Cush.


“We are thrilled to be bringing our unique service to Honolulu and next month Maui, and we look forward to building lasting community ties with the state and people of Hawaii.”

On 3 December, the airline’s Hawaii schedule grows again with daily non-stop flights from San Francisco to Maui’s Kahului Airport.

USA: American Airlines Says It Flew Wrong Plane To Hawaii

Federal safety officials are looking into a flight that American Airlines operated to Hawaii using a plane that lacked all the emergency equipment required for long over-water trips.

Federal Aviation Administration rules require such planes to carry extra oxygen for medical emergencies and an extra canister of fire extinguisher. That's because the planes fly far from airports where they could make an emergency landing. An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles was on its way to Honolulu on Aug. 31 when an employee on the ground realized that the airline had sent the wrong plane, spokesman Casey Norton said Monday.

He said the airline completed the flight but canceled the return trip, which would have used the same jet, and flew the plane flew back to Los Angeles without passengers. Norton said American notified the FAA of the mistake and changed its software to make it easier for workers to match the correct plane with the route.

An FAA spokesman said the agency was investigating. The mistake occurred about two weeks after American switched from Boeing 757s to Airbus A321s on the Hawaii route. Some of its A321s are certified for over-ocean flights but some are not. Norton said both types of A321 have the same engines and the same number of life rafts and flotation devices.

PHILIPPINES: Turbulence On Hawaii-Philippines Flight

Philippine Airlines says 15 passengers sustained minor injuries during turbulence on a flight from Hawaii to Manila. Medical and airline personnel helped them after the plane landed safely at Manila's airport.

The airline said in a statement that Flight PR101 carrying 132 passengers left Honolulu at 12:06 p.m. Friday and the Airbus 340 experienced clear air turbulence en route. Such turbulence is not associated with clouds and cannot be detected visually or by conventional weather radar.

A DZBB radio reporter tweeted pictures of passengers in wheelchairs. One of them, identified as Abuena Castillo, held an ice pack on her head. She was quoted as saying that the plane suddenly fell and rose, throwing her off her seat.