Scoop

HONOLULU--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, 2004--Hawaiian Airlines announced today it has applied for government approvals with the United States and Australia to provide nonstop service to the land Down Under. Subject to these approvals, Hawaiian plans to begin service between Honolulu and Sydney on May 17.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040115/155821_1.html

For those that care. Interesting to see that they believe this market can support another 4 flights.

Scoop

Just looked at the flight times, which will be their competitive advantage

hnl-syd dep 1:30pm arr 7:30pm
syd-hnl dep 9:30pm arr 10:55am

So you can connect on to other islands, which you currently can't do with QF, AC or NZ.

tinkybelle

And you dont get into HNL at the dreaded 1am and have to pay for a hotel for a few hours.
I used to love the CO flights which got in at 6am,.
Also yes the fact that you can connect to another island without staying in HNL for a few hours is a great plus.
The Moana and the Hyatt always had rooms available for early occupancy.
Only the princess K ever made us wait till 3.
I do hope this does eventuate .

[This message has been edited by tinkybelle (edited Jan 15, 2004).]

Platinum A332

Hawaiian's so-called "First Class" seems like Qantas Domestic Business Class.

On a Boeing 767;
- 2x2x2 Configuration
- 18.5" Seat Width
- 42" Seat Pitch

And I don't think any cabins have Personal Entertainment. Correct me If I'm wrong.

Qantas will still get my business to Hawaii, even though Hawaii will still get Dreamtime Seats and not Skybed in Business Class.

Al B

You don't think QF will drop this perenial low yielding route like a hot spud and code with HA, who, btw, are conveniently much in bed with AA in many things?

Platinum A332

I don't think Qantas will drop Honolulu. There seems to be a decent amount of Premium Leisure Traffic (Rich People wanting to go on holidays) between Australia and Honolulu, and Qantas will offer the best J and Y products to Honolulu once the entire Boeing 747-300 upgrade is completed.

They renovated the QC in Honolulu not that long ago. Surely if they knew no or little Premium Traffic exists between Australia and Honolulu they would use a contracted lounge instead of opening their own lounge.

Don't forget that Qantas code-shares with American Airlines to Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Chicago and Dallas, ableit with long connecting times. While AA codeshares on QF 3/4.

However I could see QF working with HA and AA on the Hawaii route.

QF will continue to make more yield than HA, as HA offer a very poor premium cabin, while Qantas after cabin upgrades will offer the best Premium Product to Honolulu (even without Skybeds). I think you'll see HA withdraw from the market before QF do. Also QF in my opinion need to keep pressure on Air Canada.

Spiff

Hopefully this will drive the HNL-SYD prices down, and ultimately drive the US-OZ prices down. It's no fun being asked to pay 4-5x the cost to Europe when the distance is 2x tops.

hauteboy

Just flew the MEL-HNL route last week.. totally packed in biz/econ. The arrival time is a pain, we saw several people spending the night in the airport before connecting in the morning.

vigneron

YIPEEE!!!!!!!!

tegwj

Forgive me but I've been unable to find more details on this -- what upgrade for the -300's is underway, and on what timeframe? I'm planning HNL-SYD in J for Dec '04 and do not relish the (very!) old seats, poor IFE, etc...

cheers,
twj

willyroo

Here's a start:Major QF Fleet/Product Investment!

tegwj

Excellent, that's what I was missing. Much obliged!

twj

kaukau

HAwaiian Airlines is matching Death*'s price HNL-SYD, USD$575 return, all-in. It's not advertised, and a little confusing, but there's a great thread in the Hawai'i Based Airlines Forum that explains everything, which is where I read about it! Cheers! See you in SYD March 16 - 22nd!!!