Tag Archives: Hawaii

Hawaiian files to serve the Kona – Tokyo Haneda market

Hawaiian Airlines (Honolulu) has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin daily, nonstop service this summer between Tokyo International Airport at Haneda (HND) and Kona International Airport (KOA) on Hawai’i Island. The airline’s action was prompted by the U.S. DOT’s decision last month to review the public interest served by Delta Air Lines’ Seattle/Tacoma-Tokyo route after Delta reduced its frequency from daily to seasonal.

In its application, Hawai’i’s flagship carrier urged the U.S. DOT to reallocate Delta’s Haneda frequency based on market data, noting that Hawaiian Airlines’ Honolulu-Tokyo service has been “by far the most, if not only, successful route” of the four Haneda slot pairs granted to U.S. carriers in 2010.

The Hawai’i Tourism Authority (HTA) estimates that the proposed daily service will generate 531,721 visitor days and $146 million in visitor expenditures. Hawaiian Airlines’ application calculates that service directly to Kona will attract 39,000 additional visitors and result in 1,151 new jobs and $65 million in new direct spending.
The application has the full support of Governor David Ige and Hawai’i Island Mayor Billy Kenoi.

If approved, this would be Hawaiian Airlines’ fifth Japan route and third daily nonstop flight between Japan and Hawai’i, joining daily service to Honolulu from Tokyo and Osaka and thrice-weekly service between Honolulu, Sendai and Sapporo. Hawaiian Airlines anticipates it will begin service on or about June 1, 2015, utilizing its fleet of 20 294-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The departure and arrival times will vary depending on time of year.

In other news, Hawaiian Airlines announced its system-wide traffic statistics for the full year, fourth quarter and the month of December 2014. The airline set a new annual record in its 85-year history with 10,195,145 passengers transported in 2014, 2.6 percent higher than the previous year.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 N381HA (msn 1114) approaches the runway at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.

Hawaiian Airlines aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-UnitedStates-2/Airlines-UnitedStates-2/Hawaiian-Airlines

Alaska Airlines to launch San Diego-Kona flights on March 5, 2015

Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma) is bringing more Hawaii to its customers in San Diego with new nonstop flights between San Diego and Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Starting March 5, 2015, the new flights will operate three times weekly.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-890 N593AS (msn 35107) completes the river approach into Washington’s Reagan National Airport.

Alaska Airlines:

Jetstar Airways to start Boeing 787 service to Honolulu from Sydney on February 19

Jetstar Airways (Melbourne) has announced it will start Boeing 787 service to Honolulu, Hawaii starting on February 19, 2015. The 787 will replace Airbus A330-200 aircraft currently assigned to the route.

In other news, Jetstar announced it will start flying three times a week between Gold Coast and Queenstown from December 13, 2014 and three times a week between Gold Coast and Wellington from December 12, 2014 (subject to government and regulatory approval).

Flights on both new Tasman routes will be operated by 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft in a single class. Gold Coast-Wellington services are offered on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and Gold Coast-Queenstown flights on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

Copyright Photo: Rob Finlayson/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner VH-VKA (msn 36227) is pictured in action at Sydney.

Jetstar Airways:

Aircraft Video from Jetstar Airways:

WestJet reports a record 2Q net profit of $51.8 million, will operate Boeing 767-300 ERs, Encore orders 5 more Q400s

WestJet (Calgary) today announced its second quarter results for 2014, with net earnings of $51.8 million (all amounts in Canadian dollars), or $0.40 per fully diluted share, as compared with the net earnings of $44.7 million, or $0.34 per fully diluted share reported in the second quarter of 2013. Based on the trailing twelve months, the airline achieved a return on invested capital of 13.7 per cent, consistent with the 13.7 per cent reported in the previous quarter.

“We had a great second quarter, reporting record earnings, exceeding our ROIC target for the eighth consecutive quarter, and achieving an on-time performance rate of 84.5 per cent, a year over year improvement of 3.5 percentage points,” said WestJet President and CEO Gregg Saretsky. “We continue to execute on our growth plans, including new service to Dublin, Ireland, success with our fare bundles initiative, and the expansion of WestJet Encore. Encore celebrated its first birthday in June, recently welcomed its one-millionth guest, and exercised five additional purchase options for Q400 aircraft. I want to thank all of our 10,000 WestJetters for their commitment to providing our award winning brand of friendly caring service, which is the foundation of our success.”

On July 7, WestJet announced that it was in the advanced stages of sourcing aircraft for its entry into wide-body service. A natural, next-step evolution for the airline, WestJet has recently selected four Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft (below) which will initially operate on routes between Alberta and Hawaii during the winter season beginning in late 2015. The airline’s current winter service between Alberta and Hawaii, via two Boeing 757-200s operated by Thomas Cook, is ending in the spring of 2015. WestJet expects to expand its operation into overseas markets starting in the summer of 2016. Further announcements regarding WestJet’s wide-body schedule will be released at a later date.

Image: WestJet.

On July 28, 2014, WestJet’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.12 per common voting share and variable voting share for the third quarter of 2014, to be paid on September 30, 2014, to shareholders of record on September 17, 2014. All dividends paid by WestJet are, pursuant to subsection 89(14) of the Income Tax Act, designated as eligible dividends, unless indicated otherwise. An eligible dividend paid to a Canadian resident is entitled to the enhanced dividend tax credit.

In other news, WestJet Encore Ltd. has signed a firm purchase agreement for five Bombardier Q400 NextGen airliners. This transaction is a conversion of a batch of five options booked by the carrier’s parent company WestJet and follows the first conversion of five option aircraft announced on March 27, 2014, bringing the number of option aircraft exercised to 10. The initial total of 25 option aircraft was part of the original contract announced on August 1, 2012 that included WestJet’s firm order for 20 Q400 NextGen airliners.

WestJet Encore launched in June 2013 operating 10 departures daily to two destinations with two Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft and 131 employees. Today, it operates 90 departures daily from hubs in Calgary, Alberta and Toronto, Ontario to 19 destinations with 13 Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft and approximately 500 employees. The airline has announced plans to introduce service to Québec City, Québec; Fredericton, New Brunswick and Penticton, British Columbia in 2015.

Copyright Photo: Matt Dueck/AirlinersGallery.com. WestJet will become a new Boeing 767-300 operator. The airline will trade in its wet leased Boeing 757-200s (currently operated by Thomas Cook Airlines) for larger wide-body Boeing 767-300 ERs in 2015. The pictured Boeing 757-28A N750NA (msn 26277) was previously operated by North American Airlines in the WestJet brand.

WestJet:

Air Canada to convert more leisure routes to Air Canada rouge

Air Canada (Montreal) has announced that its leisure carrier subsidiary, Air Canada rouge (Toronto-Pearson), is expanding service to Hawaii with the introduction of new year-round nonstop flights between Toronto and Honolulu. The new route, offering the only nonstop service between Toronto and Hawaii, will begin on November 26, 2014. Flights will be operated using Air Canada rouge Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft offering a choice of two cabins with three choices of service, personal space and comfort.

In addition, Air Canada announced that existing year-round nonstop service from Vancouver to Honolulu and Maui, currently operated by Air Canada, will be converted to daily Air Canada rouge Boeing 767-300 ER service effective on November 21 and December 1, 2014, respectively.

As part of its Air Canada rouge winter schedule to Caribbean destinations, twice-weekly seasonal service from Toronto to St. Maarten, previously operated by Air Canada, will be converted to Air Canada rouge Boeing 767-300ER service effective on December 20.

Air Canada will continue to evaluate future market opportunities as new aircraft are introduced into its mainline fleet and existing aircraft are released for operation by Air Canada rouge as market demand warrants. Since the launch in July 2013 of Air Canada rouge, Air Canada has deployed its leisure carrier to a growing number of Caribbean, European and select sun destinations in the United States.

With the addition of the Hawaii and St. Maarten routes, together with its previously announced summer 2014 schedule to Europe, the Caribbean and the United States, Air Canada rouge plans to operate a total of 58 routes by next winter, including service this summer to Barcelona, Dublin, Lisbon, Manchester, Nice and Rome.

Air Canada rouge’s aircraft feature three customer comfort options: rougeTM, rouge PlusTM with preferred seating with additional legroom, and Premium rougeTM with additional space and enhanced service on the Boeing 767-300 ER and on select Airbus A319 routes. Air Canada rouge offers a unique brand of customer service designed to make every flight a memorable start and end to a wonderful vacation. Aircraft are equipped with player, a next generation in-flight entertainment system that wirelessly streams entertainment to customers’ personal electronic devices. Flights provide stylish and modern cabin interiors with new Slimline seats which have a trim profile that offers more personal space, and the ability to earn and redeem Aeroplan miles.

Air Canada rouge operates a fleet consisting of Boeing 767-300 ER and Airbus A319 aircraft transferred from Air Canada. By the end of May 2014, Air Canada rouge’s fleet will include six Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft and 18 Airbus A319 aircraft.

Air Canada’s mainline fleet renewal is ongoing with the introduction of new aircraft. In May, the airline took delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner and is scheduled to receive a total of six 787 aircraft in 2014 with the remaining 31 scheduled between 2015 and 2019. In February 2014, Air Canada took delivery of the last of five new Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft to enter its mainline fleet.

Copyright Photo: TMK Photography/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 767-333 ER C-FMWV (msn 25586) arrives back at the Toronto (Pearson) hub.

Air Canada:

Air Canada rouge:

Island Air introduces a new “pineapple” color scheme

Island Air (Hawaii) (Honolulu) has introduced a new colorful livery. The first aircraft to wear the new livery is this former American Eagle-Executive Airlines ATR 72-210 registered as N342AT (msn 345). The turboprop is named “Lana’i”. This new look replaces the short-lived 2012 “Lei” color scheme. N342AT was painted this month on the mainland.

Oracle Corporation’s CEO Larry Ellison acquired most of the island of Lanai from David H. Murdock. On February 26, 2013, Island Air announced the sale of the airline to Ellison. Ellison appointed Paul Casey, former CEO of Hawaiian Airlines and President of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau as the company’s new President and CEO. Casey has trimmed routes and settled on the ATR 72 to serve its routes in Hawaii.

The island airline issued this statement:

Island Air has introduced its new logo. The new symbol for the airline is the native ‘i‘iwi bird, which was prized by the Hawaiian ali‘i.

“The new logo is part of our company’s restructuring to align ourselves with an improved and enhanced level of service,” said Island Air CEO Paul Casey. “It symbolizes a revitalized company with deep roots in Hawaiʻi and a strong commitment to the community and our customers.”

Signage with the new logo has already been installed at airport ticket counters in Honolulu, Līhuʻe, Kahului, Lāna‘i and Moloka‘i. The new logo will be phased in over the next several months, and also be reflected in Island Air’s digital and print communications, collateral, vehicles, and on the airline’s ATR 72 64-seater aircraft.

The ‘i‘iwi bird is a species of the Hawaiian honeycreeper found on the islands of Hawai‘i, O‘ahu, Maui and Kaua‘i. It holds a special place in Hawaiian culture. One of Hawaiʻi’s most beautiful birds, the ʻiʻiwi was prized by Hawaiians for its striking vermillion feathers, which were used to make feather capes, helmets and other symbols of Hawaiian royalty.

Island Air also announced its support of The Nature Conservancy, by joining the Hawaiʻi Nature Conservancy’s Corporate Council, for the Environment, as a Corporate Conservator. Island Air’s donation will be used as part of The Nature Conservancy’s efforts to protect and preserve the native habitat of the i’iwi, a threatened indigenous Hawaiʻi species, found in Nature Conservancy preserves on Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island.

“The Nature Conservancy is devoted to protecting Hawaii’s native forest habitat for all native species of animals and plants including the ‘i‘iwi,” said Suzanne Case, The Nature Conservancy’s Hawaiʻi executive director. “Not only are these forest areas critical to the survival of Hawaiʻi’s globally unique creatures, they are also the source of all the fresh water for our islands. We are thrilled and grateful to welcome Island Air into the Conservancy’s distinguished roster of sponsors from the business community.”

The new logo was designed by Wall-to-Wall Studios in Honolulu.

Copyright Photo: Ivan K. Nishimura/Blue Wave Group. N342AT shines on the ramp at the Honolulu International Airport after its long ferry flight from the mainland.

Island Air (Hawaii):

Current Route Map: Island Air has scaled back its operations since the Larry Ellison takeover.

Air China arrives in Hawaii

Air China (Beijing) yesterday (January 20) celebrated the start of its Beijing – Hawaii service with a ceremony held at T3 of Beijing Capital International Airport. In attendance were the invitees from U.S. Embassy in China, Beijing Capital International Airport Customs, Beijing General Station of Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection, Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and Beijing Capital International Airport Co. Ltd. as well as Air China’s executives. At the ceremony, dancers from Hawaii treated the audience to the distinctive Hula dance, which is a showcase of Hawaii’sindigenous culture, and presented garlands to the invited guests on stage, giving the occasion a rich tropical feel.

The new service, CA 837/8, is the first nonstop air link between Beijing and Hawaii. It’s operated three times a week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday with wide body Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 1330 Beijing time and arrives in Honolulu at 1630 local time. The return flight takes off from Honolulu at 2200 local time and arrives in Beijing at 0520 Beijing time on the next day.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 B-6070 (msn 750) arrives back to the Beijing hub and base.

Air China:

Island Air takes delivery of its first ATR 72 and introduces a new look

Island Air (Hawaii) (Honolulu) has taken delivery of its first ATR 72-200. The pictured former American Eagle Airlines (Executive Airlines) ATR 72-212 registered as N348AE (msn 349) arrived at the pictured Honolulu base on September 23. N348AE will become N941WP with Island Air. The new type also introduces this new livery.