With Christmas only a month away from today, Hawaiian Airlines is adding extra flights for the holiday season to accommodate the usual busy travel time between Honolulu and Pago Pago.
Since last week Samoa News has received several inquiries from off-island Samoans and others wanting to know if Hawaiian was adding extra flights for the Christmas holiday as they have done in past years.
Responding to Samoa News inquiries Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner said via e-mail from Honolulu yesterday that the airline is adding four flights for the holidays operating on Dec. 15, 22, 29 for this year and Jan. 5 for 2010.
Wagner said these extra flights are Tuesday flights operating at the same time as the carrier’s normal schedule for Thursdays and Sundays.
The flights depart Honolulu at 5:05 p.m. arriving Pago Pago at 9:30 p.m. The flights will then depart Tafuna airport at 11:20 p.m. arriving Honolulu at 5:30 a.m. the next day.
The extra section flight numbers are HA1465 for the Honolulu Pago Pago section and HA1466 for the Pago Pago- Honolulu leg.
In past years, Hawaiian has added extra flights for the holidays as local residents head to the U.S. for the holidays, while many American Samoans return to the territory for Christmas with families and others travelers to attend church functions.
Early this week, Hawaiian was named one of the best midsized domestic airlines in premium seating, receiving 21 out of 30 points in the category, according to a recent customer satisfaction study by Zagat Survey.
Hawaiian ranked third in the best midsized domestic airline in economy seating category, according to the Zagat’s 2009 Airline Survey which covered 16 domestic and 73 international airlines, as well as 30 domestic airports.
On Nov. 11 this year, Hawaiian, the pioneering carrier of the Pacific and one of the nation’s longest-serving carriers, celebrated its 80th anniversary of continuous service for Hawaii.
“Hawaiian Airlines has been flying since essentially the dawn of commercial aviation and has weathered the turbulence of a stormy business over 80 years,” said Hawaiian’s president and CEO Mark Dunkerley “That is a remarkable achievement in itself, considering all the iconic airlines in history that never reached this milestone.”
“It is a credit to our dedicated employees and our loyal customers that we are able to celebrate Hawaiian’s rich 80-year history in aviation and envision a promising future as we work to continue growing and diversifying our service,” Dunkerley said at the time of the celebration in Honolulu.
On November 11, 1929, Inter-Island Airways (the company changed its name to Hawaiian Airlines in 1941) launched Hawaii’s first-ever scheduled interisland air service using two Sikorsky S-38 amphibian propeller planes that carried eight passengers and two crewmembers.
According to the airline, it is on pace to carry more than eight million passengers in 2009— its largest total ever.
