Hawaiian Airlines nonstop service between the Big Island and Tokyo will begin Dec. 20, Hawaiian Airlines announced Wednesday.
Hawaiian Airlines nonstop service between the Big Island and Tokyo will begin Dec. 20, Hawaiian Airlines announced Wednesday.
The inaugural flight will depart at 5:05 p.m. from Kona International Airport bound for Haneda International Airport. It will provide the first direct service between Kona and Japan in more than a decade. The Kona airport has not received a commercial flight from Japan since 2010 when Japan Airlines ceased the route.
Hawaiian Airlines has operated daily service between Honolulu International Airport and Haneda since November 2010. In May, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved the airline’s application to provide three times weekly service between Kona and Haneda airports, along with a second frequency four-times weekly from Honolulu to Haneda. That Honolulu-Haneda flight begins Dec. 21.
The airline also announced Wednesday that travelers can book flights online at www.hawaiianairlines.com and www.hawaiianairlines.co.jp.
The DOT is still deciding which five of eight remaining applications from four other U.S. air carriers it will approve for daytime slots, and Hawaiian has urged the DOT to confirm its existing daily Honolulu-Haneda service be among them.
The new Kona-Haneda and Honolulu-Haneda services will be operated by Hawaiian Airlines’ wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft, seating 294 passengers.