Interesting changes in flights to Hawaii today. First, Alaska Airlines, Hawaii’s 2nd bellwether, has decided to leave one of its longtime California gateways to the islands. That as Hawaiian Airlines brings on 3 of 4 new routes last week and this. Read on for details.
Alaska Airlines cuts all Oakland to Hawaii flights.
Effective immediately, Alaska will no longer serve Hawaii from the convenient Oakland airport. We’ll miss that personally as we’ve transited to the west coast many times via Oakland. The reality is the competition was high, and the profits low. It makes sense for Alaska to focus its efforts on the Bay Area’s two other airports, from which it serves Hawaii. Those airports are San Francisco and San Jose. Passengers who had reservations to fly to Hawaii from Oakland can either opt for a refund or reschedule via one of the other airports.
Southwest Airlines is the behemoth force at Oakland Airport, including their own flights to the islands. Hawaiian Airlines continues to serve Oakland as well.
This change has been pending for some time and was not unexpected.
Three new Hawaiian Airlines routes just starting.
Hawaiian Airlines in December announced one of its largest and most significant route expansions ever. The company unveiled flights between Hawaii and Austin, Orlando, and Ontario and between Maui and Long Beach.
Long Beach to Maui flights starts tomorrow.
Served on narrow-body A321 aircraft, this flight adds to the current Long Beach to Honolulu route. As we said when it was announced, Maui is vying to be the single most important Hawaii destination.
Ontario to Honolulu starts tomorrow.
Service will be on narrow-body A321 aircraft. This route was served previously when Hawaiian flew its retired 767 fleet there. Its return has been asked for repeatedly. This is a good move and helps bring visitors from both the Inland Empire and Orange County.
Orlando to Honolulu started Saturday.
As of this past weekend, wide-body A330 service commenced to this previously unserved area. This adds to Hawaiian’s other long-haul domestic routes, New York and Boston. The flight will operate two to three times weekly.
Austin to Honolulu will start next month.
Commencing on April 21, the wide-body A330 aircraft route will be the first of the company’s flights to the area, considered one of the fastest-growing cities in the US.
Which is these routes are of interest to you?
Mahalo for the update on Alaska Air. Sad to hear that they are abandoning their Oakland to Maui flights, as the Hawaiian Air schedule is not as convenient and it helped to keep prices down. Not sure why Alaska Air thinks San Jose is the better option other than there is more big $$$ money there. And San Francisco Airport? It may be big but it is a disaster to get in and out, but at least you can make big money betting that most – if not all – flights will be delayed due to fog.
Hope things begin to improve for the people of Hawaii soon.
Hi Debi.
Thanks. Yes, there is a lot of jockeying around right now with the flights to Hawaii and it seems like there will be more ahead.
Aloha.
Thanks for the information, Unfortunately Alaska rescheduled our Oak to Lih flight traveling Oak to Seattle. This will cause an additional four hours of travel. This would be incredibly inconvenient with three small kids. I called and they refused to give me a refund because this was a flight I had to reschedule several times due to Covid 19. Unfortunately the only option I have is to fly out of San Jose which is three Plus hours from my home. Since they are the ones who cancelled the flight I think they should have to Refund the flight. I am really angry.
I support Hawaiian in adding new routes,expanding the market.I have met many people from Chicago,and now Orlando today,in Waikiki who are extremely appreciative for this new easier way to travel to Hawaii
Aloha,
I was looking forward to the easy access of Ontario, Ca., but the prices are much higher than those of San Diego and LAX. This route will only benefit the population of Northern Riverside County and San Bernardino County, everyone else in Southern California will choose SAN & LAX over ONT. I for one always fly from SAN and make my hours drive there for it’s reliability and cheaper airfares. You’ll spend less in gas in the difference in prices.