Hawaiian Airlines told us late last night, then announced this morning, that they will be flying 5 times weekly between Boston and Honolulu using their A330 aircraft. This will, at 5,095 miles, be the longest domestic route in US history and the first ever nonstop to Hawaii from Boston. Commemorating HA’s 90th year in business, the route is being designated “HA 90.”
The routes starts in spring break, providing a great time for New Englanders to give Hawaii a try!
HA89 will operate BOS-HNL, departing 8:00am and arriving 1:40 pm.
HA90 will operate HNL-BOS, departing 1:45pm and arriving the following day at 6:00am.
CEO Peter Ingram: “Boston is the largest U.S. market without nonstop service to Hawai‘i with nearly 500 people flying between eastern New England and the islands on any given day.”
Inaugural airfares. To celebrate the only nonstop service connecting Boston and Hawaii, there is a Hawaiian Air special round trip fare of $617 (economy) and $1,776 (first class). Tickets must be purchased by 9/17 and are available for travel from April 4 to April 30. Blackout dates for travel to Hawaii are April 12-14, and to Boston from April 19-21. We expect to see economy airfares remain at or below that level, for the foreseeable future due to competition. The first class airfare is an excellent offer.
Beat of Hawaii analysis.
1. We were surprised to see Boston as the next non-west coast addition for Hawaiian. Frankly, we’d have more expected and still anticipate the likes of Atlanta, Chicago, Montreal, Philadelphia, Toronto, or Washington, among eastern options. On the other hand, part of the decision could relate to the fact that a number of those have direct competition, while Boston does not.
2. Boston is a focus city for Hawaiian partner JetBlue, as well as competitors Delta, (and to a lesser degree) American and United. So we definitely anticipate very competitive pricing, at least from Delta and American for a long time to come. Without doubt, Hawaiian Airlines has done its homework on this offering. Their only other east coast route, New York, was a very tough egg to crack for Hawaiian, and took years to develop.
3. We do still expect to see a number of new routes (west coast, east coast and Asia/Pacific) coming soon from Hawaiian. New routes have in part become possible due to their new single-isle Airbus fleet (see our Hawaiian Airlines A321 trip report). That plane is fast becoming the mainstay for many existing and upcoming west coast routes. The company recently announced it is suspending its Honolulu to Beijing route due to lack of demand.
4. Another factor is that Southwest Airlines will very soon be plying the Hawaiian skies. With that significant change in the competitive environment, it is great to see Hawaiian leverage their current (A330) and upcoming (B787) wide-body fleet for unique offerings such as this.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
I understand that there will be 5 flights from Boston to Hawaii each week. Could you please tell me what days of the week they will be. Thank you.
Hi Audrey.
It will be Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Aloha.
This is exciting for us Boston folks. How about direct to OGG?
What about Denver? We fly to Lihue from Denver at least four times a year and have been hoping, hoping, hoping that Hawaiian might start up here and give United some much needed competition. United’s daily flight from Denver to Lihue seems to always be full.
Any updates for flights from Tampa non stop would be wonderful!!
Would LOVE to see some great fares from St Louis. Doubt that will happen. Decided to book our 2019 Hawaiian flights using our points from PHX to KOA – we visit family there and it makes a nice stopover. Just booked our flights and decided ‘no looking back’ :0) Thanks for all the updates though. Great deals if you live out East.
Hi Colleen.
Great to hear from you – as always. St. Louis, unlike the others we listed, isn’t one we have heard about.
Love that concept of not looking back – we use the same philosophy.
Aloha.
I miss flying TWA 747s from STL to HNL. Most of my family worked for the airline so I used to fly up in the nose in first class or upstairs in business. One of the captains was very good friends with my grandmother and let me into the cockpit and sit in the first officers seat while we were in the air. Of course that could never happen now, but what an experience for a young boy
What about fares from Dallas?