jpetekYXMD80

Hawaiian Airlines
HA proposes to institute nonstop service from Haneda to Kona.

Since the launch of HA's HNL-HND service the carrier has seen great success and believes a Kona nonstop would not only inject new competition in the Japan market from Hawaii, but would provide economic benefits for the State of Hawaii and US overall.

HA is well aware of existing great demand for travel to Kona which today is only accessible via Honolulu. This is underscored by the fact that Kona is the 2nd largest travel market from Tokyo that lacks nonstop air service today.

Proposed schedule:
HA432 KOA-HND 1750-2200 A330
HA431 HND-KOA 2355-1245 A330
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How awesome would that be? Interesting thinking for HA. Probably the only route that is feasible from Asia to a neighbor island, but a solid one which used to have regular service.

N830MH

Isn't JL has already direct flight KOA-NRT some long time ago. I am not quite sure. I think JL is usually a charter flight from NRT-HNL-KOA back in 90s.

HA/UA_Flyer

To add to the discussion for those who have not been following what is going on...this is in regards to the original Haneda route authorities granted by the DOT a couple years back that HA was initially awarded in addition to Delta and AA.

This application is specific to one of the authorities Delta has, the DTW-HND authority that Delta had asked DOT recently for permission to change to SEA-HND. DOT responded about 2 weeks ago to Delta....request denied.

Instead DOT, put the authority out for a rebid with applications due today (8/27/12) with a decision by 9/13.

From discussion on another board, in addition to HA's application for KOA-HND, AA applied for LAX-HND, Delta re-submitted for SEA-HND and UA applying for SFO-HND.

So now we wait and see for the decision.

jpetekYXMD80

When is the next round of HND slots supposed to happen?

If they don't get this DL slot, we'll still probably see this route at some point.

LIH Prem

would that be for HND departing flights after 1AM for the next round?

Just in case the Midnight bank of departures isn't late enough.

-David

jpetekYXMD80

Who knows. The times really suck, its no wonder the mainland flights have struggled. Perfect for flights to Hawaii though, I hope HA keeps getting them.

ipster

Its Big News in the 50th State. Hawaiian Airlines was awarded two new
routes from Haneda to Honolulu and Kona .Honolulu is located on the island of Oahu, while Kona is located on west coast of the "big island" or "hawaii" island
known for its dry arid leeward "gold coast", fine resorts in Waikoloa ,North Kona and South Kohala, golf Courses as fun and challenging as any.
see https://newsroom.hawaiianairlines.co...eda-kona-route
Any questions? feel free to contact me. I work at the Mauna Lani resort in Waikoloa, am from Oahu, am happy to assist with any travel or intercontinental
moving and relocation.
Aloha

Alex909

I think the proposed times will work, even though a Haneda arrival time of 7 or 8pm would be better, of course. Tokyo subways and buses tend to stop running at 12:30am or so. So, if the new HA 432 happens to be delayed it could be a little bit hard to get to your hotel or to your residence (if you are a Tokyo local). And quite costly, if you need a taxi. But I have been told Haneda airport is trying to improve late night connections, among other things, in anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics.

Yes, Japan Air Lines used to serve KOA from Tokyo until only a few years ago, with mixed success. Our Tokyo based family used it many times to visit us. Part of the problem (in their eyes) was that there was an akward short stop in Honolulu on the way to Tokyo. During that stop, you could not get out of the HNL transit area and go to town for, say, some last minute "omiage" shopping. And more importantly they thought that JAL pricing was not right: "Yen 100,000 and up was too expensive".

Ideally, pricing would be no higher than 60,000 to 80,000 yen during low season. Higher, of course, during Golden Week/New Year/Merry Monarch. The Japanese economy is not firing on all cylinders recently, so there will be less disposable income. The Big Isle is getting more popular among some, but still... it is not as famous as the other isles in the minds of "mainstream" Japanese travelers many of whom tend to prefer dense city environments with diverse high end shopping, high quality food offerings, combined with a beach. Our island appeals more to individualistic or younger travelers among the Japanese. (For example, Kona and the South Kohala regions are well known among some of the Japanese corporate elite, popular actors, singers, golfers and coffee lovers. Hilo gets a large Japanese Hula crowd once a year.) These groups could be primary targets for the new service.

It will be interesting to observe this going forward.

MDTyKe

Will Customs & Border Protection be able to serve this flight? I had read somewhere that, the CBP services at KOA were considered sub-standard for US arrivals; and it merely just functions as a Deferred Inspection location. Perhaps, the same CBP team based out of KOA also serve Kawaihae?

All said, if not, the flight will still have to stop off in HNL on the U.S. bound flight?