Hawaii vacation planners are having a hard time finding Hawaii deals. While last week brought quite a flurry of Hawaii travel deals, they are otherwise too few and far between. What’s become of Southwest Airlines Hawaii service and then stagnant Allegiant Air? At the same time a new airline (spoiler alert: Norwegian Airlines) is making waves from afar — across an ocean, with a model could even make its way to Hawaii’s shores.
What happened to Southwest Airlines Hawaii and Allegiant Air?
We’ve all been waiting for further word from Southwest Airlines as to when they may begin service to Hawaii. Their CEO said last year it was only a matter of when. However, as of today there has been no further indication, leaving the distinct impression that Hawaii is not in Southwest’s short term plans.
Allegiant Air also brought us Hawaii deal optimism recently when they introduced many new routes and $99 airfares. Their Hawaii flights began with a fleet of used Boeing 757’s that brought maintenance problems and delays among other issues. Unfortunately, most of those routes didn’t work out and thus were short lived. Unable to arrive at a broader workable model for Hawaii air service, Allegiant now only flies to Hawaii from Bellingham and Las Vegas. Later this month they will try a new route, Los Angeles to Honolulu.
Discount Hawaii air needn’t only be a dream.
Transpacific air travel is very much like transatlantic. Hawaii has generally been dominated by legacy carriers plus Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines, all of whose business models require higher rates with the exception of occasional airfare sales. This year a new player entered the transatlantic market and is making waves, huge Hawaii style waves. That “model” may find itself in the Pacific in a new or existing airline, and we couldn’t be more excited about that possibility. We’ve already bought tickets to try out the new ultra low discount carrier and be able to report back.
Watch for new fuel efficient aircraft entering the Hawaii market and replacing old planes over the next couple of years, such as the Airbus A321neo. As these come online and fuel costs are reduced, the opportunity for new Hawaii deals should increase.
Relatively Unknown European Discount Carrier Enters Transatlantic Market – A Comparison Study.
Norwegian Airlines has arrived with a brand new fleet of initially problematic Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplanes featuring 20% greater fuel efficiency over prior aircraft. They packed more seats into that plane than anyone else, while providing more legroom than competitors using sliding seat bottoms.
The carrier is radically shaking up a market similar to Hawaii with one way tickets starting at $182 between Europe and New York (same distance as west coast to Hawaii) and $236 between Europe and Los Angeles or Oakland (same distance as east coast to Hawaii). In their a la carte model with which we have all become accustomed, they charge for meals and beverages and $30 per checked bag (no fees for carry-on). We’ll check them out and report to you on this model when we fly Norwegian Airlines.
In the meantime, please stay tuned for Hawaii deals. We’ll post them here first.
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I hope Southwest Hawai’i flights become a reality. I lived in Denver for many years and often flew them to the West coast for HNL or Kona flights, or to visit ohana in California, and have been impressed with their service, choices, and no-frills attitude. I will be moving to the Big Island in 2014 and would love to see travel for friends, family, and myself to be more affordable.
Hi Linda,
Concur with your thinking. If nothing else, Southwest will help keep prices in check. Allegiant has not really been able to do that.
Aloha.
Last I checked, Allegiant is supposed to start LAX to HNL service on October 30, 3013. Has this been cancelled due to the aircraft problems you mentioned above?
Hi Kyle,
They are still flying between Las Vegas, Bellingham and Hawaii, as indicated and yes, will be trying Los Angeles.
Aloha.