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: United To Fly New 737 MAX 9s From SFO And LAX To Hawaii.

United will drop a transcontinental route from San Jose, add some domestic regional markets, and start flying new 737MAX9s to Hawaii from the West Coast.

Delta will start service between two business centers, add a Mexico route and increase Havana flights; JetBlue expands Mint service to Central America; and British Airways targets a new U.S. gateway.

United Airlines is throwing in the towel on its daily San Jose-Newark service as of October 26, citing poor traffic numbers.

That leaves three carriers in the non-stop SJC-New York market – Alaska Airlines with a daytime eastbound flight to Newark and a new daily daytime flight to New York JFK; and Delta and JetBlue with eastbound red-eye service from SJC to New York JFK.

United continues to fly from SJC to its hubs at Houston Bush Intercontinental, Denver and Chicago O’Hare.

Elsewhere, United will add some new spokes from its Denver hub. On October 4, it will begin twice-daily service to Monterey, California with CRJ200s.

On December 19 United will launch seasonal daily service from DEN to Mammoth Lakes, California with a CRJ700, continuing through the end of March.

And on August 29, United will add Prescott, Arizona to its route map with daily CRJ200 flights from Denver and six CRJ200 flights a week from Los Angeles. All four of these routes will be operated by SkyWest.

To Hawaii, meanwhile, United is expected to deploy new Boeing 737 MAX9s on some west coast routes in the months ahead.

It will use the new planes to operate six to seven flights a week from LAX to Kahului, Maui starting August 21; daily flights from LAX to Kona as of February 14.

Daily service from San Francisco to Kona beginning March 8; and daily flights from SFO to Maui as of March 9. While efficient, the new planes have become quickly known for ultra-tight seating and teeny-tiny lavatories. Tough for a five hour flight.

Speaking of Hawaii when Chris was in Kauai recently, the word on the street was that production crews were on the island shooting commercials for Southwest Airlines' launch of new flights from the mainland.

Unconfirmed reports are that flights could begin as soon as November. The carrier is currently flying domestic simulations in the hopes of getting ETOPS certification for its 737s soon.

Delta is the largest airline at Raleigh-Durham, and it’s planning to grow there next spring with the addition of a key business route.

On April 1, the carrier will start flying three times a day from RDU to Chicago O'Hare , using 70-passenger E175s with first class, Comfort+ and main cabin seating.

Delta will be trying to pick up a piece of the RDU-ORD market currently dominated by United and American, and maybe a bit of the RDU-Chicago Midway market served by multiple daily Southwest flights.

Delta and Aeromexico will add another route top their joint venture operation on September 17 with the launch of new non-stop service between Detroit and Queretaro, a growing business center northwest of Mexico City.

The route will be served three days a week with a two-class Aeromexico E190. And on October 28, Delta will increase capacity between Miami and Havana by adding a second flight five days a week.

Citing increased demand from customers for its premium front-cabin Mint service with lie-flat seats, JetBlue said it will add weekly Mint-equipped flights to a pair of Latin America and Caribbean markets this fall.

On November 3, it will start Saturday service from Boston to St. Lucia, followed on December 15 by Mint-equipped flights from New York JFK to Liberia, Costa Rica.

Next February, it will resume Saturday Mint service from JFK to St. Maarten.

British Airways will add another U.S. gateway to its network on April 2 when it kicks off new service from London Heathrow to Pittsburgh.

The carrier will use a 787-8 Dreamliner on the route, which will operate four days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday).


Tourism Observer

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.