Continental starts Los Angeles-Hilo service

Continental Airlines (United Airlines) (Houston) today (June 9) launches new daily nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Hilo, Hawai’i (ITO). In addition, Continental will begin once-weekly nonstop service to Hilo from its San Francisco hub beginning June 11. The flights, operated by Continental Airlines, are the only nonstop service to Hilo from the U.S. mainland and complement Continental/United’s existing service to four other cities in Hawai’i: Honolulu, Kahului, Kona and Lihue.

Continental pilot and Boeing 737 flight instructor Lance Lau, a native of Hilo, will serve as captain on today’s flight, which departs Los Angeles at 5 p.m. (1700) and arrives in Hilo at 7:40 p.m. (1940). The return flight departs Hilo at 8:55 p.m. (2055) and arrives in Los Angeles at 5:15 a.m. (0515) the following day. At a gate event in Los Angeles, Hilo radio personality and well-known community figure DJ Gumby will broadcast live from the airport and hold a trivia contest with customers. Award-winning singer and songwriter Robert Cazimero – who has led a resurgence of Hawai’ian music, language, dance and culture since the 1970s – will perform a traditional Hawai’ian blessing known as a “pule” at the event before joining Captain Lau, DJ Gumby and other customers on the inaugural flight.

Despite the merger under one holding company, Continental and United are still separate airlines, adopting the new (old) United brand for all services.

United Slide Show: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Brandon Farris. Please click on the photo for information on this special color scheme.