BEAT OF HAWAII AND BEYOND

Continental Airlines on Friday announced new service from Orange County to Maui starting March 7.  That follows directly on the heals of their soon to be daily service from Orange County to Honolulu.  Flights will use 737-700 aircraft.

Earlier last week, Delta Airlines announced new 757 service to Honolulu from San Diego.

Alaska Airlines appears to have been aced out of their likely intention to serve these markets. They have been steadily working their Hawaii services down the Pacific Coast into California and are already flying from Oakland to Maui and Kona.  In March they’ll be adding service from Sacramento to Maui and from San Jose to Maui and Kona.

While Hawaiian Airlines still dominates the mainland to Hawaii markets, representing 50% of all service, that balance is beginning to shift.

What might happen next?

1.  I don’t think we’ve seen the end of new mainland to Hawaii direct services, although the sluggish travel economy certainly remains a strong mitigating factor.

2. Look for new Kauai service from other California markets (in addition to the current flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco).

3. Allegiant Air remains a lurking player which has has repeatedly expressed a desire to serve Hawaii in the near future, perhaps from Bellingham, Fresno or Las Vegas.

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