Hawaiian Airlines is to further expand its network to the US mainland next summer with its first connection to the East Coast. The carrier will introduce a new daily service between Honolulu and New York JFK from June 4, 2012, operated by one of its growing fleet of Airbus A330-200 widebodies. Hawaiian Airlines has already announced it is expanding its network during 2012 by introducing additional links from Kahului and Maui to Oakland and San Jose.
An estimated 54,000 O&D passengers travelled between Honolulu and New York in the last year, a route that demands a high yield with average one way air fares of more than $600. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines dominate the market with passengers making intermediate stops in West Coast hubs such as Los Angeles and San Francisco and catching connecting flights to Hawaii.
According to statistics, demand on the route has increased by 3.3 per cent over the past year, while yields have strengthened as average fares have increased 12.0 per cent during the same period, and are now at the highest level they have been for the past five years. The route was last served on a long-term, scheduled, non-stop basis decades ago, with Pan American World Airways believed to be the last operator between the two cities.
"We're the airline of choice for millions of people on the West Coast and in Asia, and we're excited to be bringing the Hawaiian experience to New York," said Mark Dunkerley, President and CEO, Hawaiian Airlines. "New York is an important part of our growth strategy. Hawaiian is the leading airline in Hawaii's largest tourism market, the U.S. West Coast, and we are expanding in Hawaii's third largest market, Asia. Adding service to the largest market in the Eastern U.S., Hawaii's second largest tourism market, was a logical step."
The carrier has allocated the new service the flight numbers HA050/051 meaning obvious links with the famous TV show ‘Hawaii 5-0’ for the service to New York. The new flight will add more than 107,000 new air seats annually to Hawaii's tourism industry from the Eastern U.S., the state's second-largest geographic source market for visitors, according to tourism data.
"Hawaiian's new service will generate an estimated $156 million in direct visitor spending and $17 million in state tax revenue annually for our tourism economy,” explained Mike McCartney, President and CEO, Hawaii Tourism Authority. “This flight is of strategic importance to promoting the Hawaiian Islands brand to our second largest market, and we look forward to welcoming our guests."
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