Three announcements to follow on deals to Hawaii.
1. Upcoming delivery of Hawaiian Airlines‘ Airbus A321neo fleet of aircraft will result in many new routes.
The first three Hawaiian Airlines A321neo routes already announced will use their initial delivery of two aircraft. Those will arrive at Hawaiian in the next few months and enter regular service early in 2018.
Thereafter Hawaiian is due to take delivery of 9 additional A321neo planes next year, most of which will arrive early in 2018. That will spur an unknown number of additional routes and route change-ups. We’re expecting there to be dozens of new possibilities. As those new planes come online, the current fleet of A330 wide-body planes will be relieved of much of their trans-Pacific domestic duties. They will be free for new and existing long distance routes, both domestic and international.
We expect competition on west coast routes between Hawaiian, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, among others, to be at an unprecedented level next year. But the competition apparently won’t end there:
2. Air New Zealand announced it would add 60,000 more seats in 2018 between Auckland and Honolulu.
That is scheduled to occur between April and October 2018 when the company will operate up to 9 flights a week, instead of the twice weekly service it has been flying. See their press release.
In the past 4 years, Hawaiian Airlines largely created the expanded market for New Zealand to Hawaii service. Not wishing to lose that lead, they will undoubtedly be competing head on with the Air New Zealand expansion. Hawaiian currently operates 4 flights weekly between Honolulu and Auckland.
Thus we anticipate new opportunities for discounted travel between the US mainland and New Zealand via Hawaii. Hawaii is a perfect, direct stop en route, which takes an otherwise long and jet lag laden flight and makes it entirely manageable. Plus who doesn’t want to stop in Hawaii en route to anywhere!
3. Competition in routes to and from Hawaii will expand to other countries internationally.
There is new service between Honolulu and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which began in June with introductory round trip airfares as low as $400. That on AirAsia. We certainly expect to see better deals between Hawaii and the entire Asia Pacific region going forward. And all that before the first carrier announces nonstop service between Hawaii and Europe.
Remember too that new fleets are arriving at Alaska Airlines and at Southwest Airlines that we expect will have an impact on Hawaii travel and Hawaii deals. Read: Five 2018 Predictions Include Hawaii Airfare Deals in $200’s RT!
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You guys are the best (!) so you probably know if it’s possible to buy the middle seat on the new HAL planes. $ speaking, the best way to get more space than economy + or 1st class. We like the wide body planes w/ 2 seats on each side. Mahalo.
Hi VWW.
Do you mean buy 3 seats for two people so you have a free seat in between? If that’s what you’re asking, yes that is doable and something we’ve done for many years as an alternative to upgrading. Can really work well.
Aloha.
Awesome. Can this be done online or do I have to call and speak to someone?
Hi VWW.
Any time we post something it can only be purchased online, never on the phone.
Aloha.
If any carrier was likely to fly out of Burbank, I think it would be Southwest since they have a lot of flights originating from there. I agree it would be great.
Traveling to Oahu on February 16-22, 2018 from San Francisco. How soon should we purchase tickets? How cheap can the tickets get? Please help and thank you for your attention.
Hi Marissa.
Target $400, give or take.
Aloha.
This is great news! Does anyone have any intel on whether flights will resume (as they once existed on Aloha Air) between Burbank and Hawaii? Flying out of LAX is a cluster@&$.
Mahalo!
Hi Catherine.
You’re funny. We never hear any airline having the inclination to fly to Hawaii from Burbank.
Aloha.
Suggestions, please, for best first class flight experience LAX to HNL (eventually on to OGG)? Mom and friend want to travel that route and didn’t care for the HawaiianAir first class setup. Cost doesn’t really seem to be a consideration here (I know, I know!). Oh, and *not* United, seriously.
Hi Tonya.
It comes down to personal preference. We’d probably take Hawaiian over the others, in part because we’re just familiar with them and what to expect. Having tried them all in first class too, we don’t really see any standouts.
Aloha.
Plus you don’t have to be in first class on Hawaiian to get a free meal!