Hawaiian Airlines (Honolulu) will add its fifth Japan gateway in June with the launch of new service three times a week to Sendai, Japan, starting June 25, pending Japan government approval.

The new flights will be the first scheduled service between Sendai and Hawai’i since another carrier left the market in 2004, and among the first new services to be introduced at Sendai Airport since it was closed for more than a month in 2011 due to damage caused by the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Hawaiian’s new Sendai service will connect with and complement its existing service to Sapporo, operating nonstop from Honolulu to Sendai, with one-stop service returning to Honolulu via Sapporo.

Starting June 25, Hawaiian’s Flight HA 441 will depart Honolulu International Airport on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 12:15 p.m., cross the international dateline, and arrive at Sendai Airport at 4:00 p.m. the following day.

The return Flight HA 442 will then continue to Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport at 5:55 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, arriving at New Chitose at 7:10 p.m. before departing to Honolulu at 9:10 p.m., crossing the international dateline, and arriving in Honolulu at 9:50 a.m. the same day.

Hawaiian will operate the Honolulu-Sendai-Sapporo flights using its wide-body, twin-aisle Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft that seat up to 264 passengers.

Sendai is the largest city in the Tohoku region of northern Honshu, which has a population of more than 9 million. Sendai is known in Japan as “Mori no Miyako,” or Forest City, for its many green spaces in its city center. It is also known for its high quality rice and for its summer Tanabata Festival, which draws thousands of visitors from across Japan.

Sendai will be the tenth new destination that Hawaiian has introduced or announced in less than three years, following the launches of service to Tokyo in November 2010, Seoul in January 2011, Osaka in July 2011, Fukuoka in April 2012, New York in June 2012, Sapporo in October 2012, and Brisbane in November 2012. The company has previously announced new service to Auckland, New Zealand commencing on March 13, and to Taipei, Taiwan in July 2013.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems. Boeing 767-3G5 ER N586HA (msn 24259) taxies on the ramp at Los Angeles International Airport.

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