Hawaii-based Airlines - Mokulele to Chicago and London from Hawaii beginning April

It looks like Mokulele received DOT approval today to begin charter flights between Honolulu and Rockford begining in April. They will also begin charter flights between Rockford and London's Stansted airport in May. With this announcement it will allow only one stop travel between Hawaii and London.

Any thoughts on this???

Link for more details on this announcement. (http://hawaiiantraveldeals.blogspot.com/2012/01/mokulele-airlines-announces-service-to.html)

It is already possible to do one-stop travel from HNL to Europe on regularly scheduled carriers through several major hubs. AA and UA both offer this via LAX, and one can also connect through SFO on UA. Other hubs farther east require double redeyes and are less popular with paid PAX, although I know people who do it on FF awards or to rack up miles. What would really be ground-breaking would be non-stop service from Hawaii to Europe, and nobody is holding their breath on that one.

Having said all that, more options are always better, and I hope the pricing and schedule make this an attractive choice.

It looks like Mokulele received DOT approval today to begin charter flights between Honolulu and Rockford begining in April. They will also begin charter flights between Rockford and London's Stansted airport in May. With this announcement it will allow only one stop travel between Hawaii and London.

Any thoughts on this???

Link for more details on this announcement. (http://hawaiiantraveldeals.blogspot.com/2012/01/mokulele-airlines-announces-service-to.html)

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hawaiiantraveldeals.blogspot.com

Yup.

They need to stop smoking what they're smoking.

London-Hawaii is not an outlandish idea. London to Hawaii on a charter carrier with no frequent flyer earning for a 16,000 mile roundtrip is firmly in the realms of the insane.

Especially when a proper, well-run LCC (Air Asia X) has just announced its withdrawal from Europe, and made it clear that long-haul LCC is not a viable model. Especially when UK long-haul departure taxes are now well over $100 per passenger.

I'm still laughing about Rockford! Rockford, really?!? :D:D:D

Yup.

They need to stop smoking what they're smoking.

London-Hawaii is not an outlandish idea. London to Hawaii on a charter carrier with no frequent flyer earning for a 16,000 mile roundtrip is firmly in the realms of the insane.

Especially when a proper, well-run LCC (Air Asia X) has just announced its withdrawal from Europe, and made it clear that long-haul LCC is not a viable model. Especially when UK long-haul departure taxes are now well over $100 per passenger.

We aren't even talking LCC here...it is a charter for heaven's sake. Considering that there are hundreds of mediterranean beaches within a 3 hour flight from London; how is this planned to work?

Is that 767-200ER aircraft? I wasn't sure if the entire 767-200ER can go through RFD to get refuel the plane and ongoing will continued the flight to STN. They have gets ETOPS overwater from FAA certification. I am not quite sure if they have CBP facility.

In true Mokulele fashion will this route be plagued by endless delayed flights?

I'm still laughing about Rockford! Rockford, really?!? :D:D:D

I would hate to be a tourist from London and not realize the distance from Rockford to The Loop/Magnificent mile via taxi.

I would hate to be a tourist from London and not realize the distance from Rockford to The Loop/Magnificent mile via taxi.

Good point. Mokulele is being paid ($1.4M per year, I think) to do this. I'm guessing that the city fathers or whoever is footing the bill are counting on O&D traffic from the Chicago suburbs rather than British tourists to make it worth the cost, at least at first. There could also be some decent through traffic between HNL and STN in both directions if the schedule, pricing, and layover are just right. Speaking of which, has anybody seen any price or schedule info? I did a couple of searches and got nothing.