Hawaiian Air re-launches New Zealand flights

Hawaiian Airlines on Thursday this week launched non-stop service between Honolulu and New Zealand’s Auckland International Airport, where the airline once provide weekly service many years ago.
 
“We have been delighted by the interest in our new service, both here at home and in New Zealand,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO, in a media statement, prior to boarding the inaugural flight to Auckland.
 
 “The deep cultural connections between our islands and the islands of Aotearoa make New Zealand a natural destination for Hawaiian and for our singular brand of authentic Hawaiian hospitality,” he said.
 
Hawaiian now becomes the only U.S. carrier flying to Auckland, where the flight was welcomed with a Maori chant, followed by a Hawaiian chant, by a group traveling on the flight.
 
Hawaiian will operate three flights a week - on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays - between Honolulu and Auckland using a 294-seat A330-200 aircraft.
 
In the 1990s, Hawaiian operated a weekly flight between Honolulu and Auckland with a stop over in Pago Pago.
 
 The airline, at this point does not plan to increase flights between Honolulu and Pago Pago.
 
Meanwhile, Hawaiian Airlines - the major sponsor of the Samoa News Territorial Spelling Bee competition, has accelerated its plans to increase seat capacity in service between Honolulu and Portland, Oregon beginning Apr. 20th.
 
The transition from Hawaiian’s 264-seat Boeing 767-300 aircraft to its 294-seat A330 will add nearly 11,000 new air seats to the route annually.  It will also increase Hawaiian’s cargo capacity on the route by 25 percent.