Hawaiian Airlines Says Kia OraTo New Zealand

Monday, 16 July, 2012 Asia Pacific Public Relations

Hawaiian Airlines Says Kia Ora To New Zealand

Nonstop Flights To Hawaii From March 2013

AUCKLAND - Hawaiian Airlines will commence nonstop flights between Auckland and Honolulu, Hawaii, three times weekly from 14 March, 2013, becoming the only US carrier to fly to New Zealand.

The flights will provide significant new holiday options for Kiwis, increasing opportunities to fly to Honolulu and providing same carrier connections to the neighbour islands of Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island, and services to 11 destinations on the US mainland, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York.

“New Zealanders are avid travellers and we believe the introduction of new nonstop flights with our winning brand of service will be welcomed in meeting pent-up demand for a Hawaii vacation,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO. “At the same time, our new service will offer Hawaii residents easy access to the natural wonders and Maori culture of New Zealand.”

Hawaiian’s market research indicates that Hawaii is an underserved market for New Zealand, as tourism figures show there are currently 30 percent fewer visitor arrivals coming from New Zealand than in 1999 when more nonstop flights were offered between the two destinations. In addition, New Zealand residents made more than one million trips to the South Pacific and Asia in 2011.

Hawaiian’s new service will add more than 40,000 seats annually between Auckland and Honolulu.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler welcomed the announcement as a significant step in improving visitor arrivals from the United States and strengthening relations between the two countries.

“The United States is a vital market for New Zealand leisure and business travel, and is a key focus for our marketing efforts given the significant potential for growth that exists. The ability to connect through Hawaii will provide a critical link for converting those considering travel into actual bookings,” Mr Bowler said.

“The timing of this new service is ideal as the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will heighten interest in New Zealand and no doubt whet Americans’ appetite for travel here,” he added.

Auckland Airport General Manager Aeronautical Commercial, Glenn Wedlock, said that the announcement opened up a number of terrific opportunities.

“This new service will not only help grow the attractive Hawaiian market across a number of islands, but also will offer connections to a wide range of great city destinations in the mainland United States and New Zealand,” said Mr Wedlock.

“The New Zealand travel industry has been calling for more capacity and better connections on this route for some time, so this announcement will be welcomed with open arms,” he said.

“Hawaii is a very popular holiday spot for many Kiwis, plus we think that the dual destination combination of Hawaii and New Zealand offers exciting inbound leisure options for mainland United States visitors. Hawaiian is growing, and we’re looking forward to working with the airline and its partners on this new service.”

For travellers from New Zealand to Hawaii, the attractions of the gateway island of Oahu include world-famous Waikiki Beach, where surfing was invented, historic Pearl Harbour and the USS Arizona memorial, and a vast array of shopping and dining opportunities in Honolulu.

The neighbour islands, each served with frequent daily flights by Hawaiian Airlines, offer spectacular natural attractions including the active Kilauea volcano on Hawaii Island, the dormant Haleakala volcano on Maui and Kauai’s rainforests and breathtaking Waimea Canyon, known as “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific”.

Travellers from New Zealand also have the option to make same carrier connections with Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu to a choice of 11 US mainland destinations – Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, San Diego and Phoenix.

Hawaiian Airlines, a full service leisure airline, will operate its New Zealand flights with wide-body Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, seating 264 passengers - 18 in Business Class and 240 in Economy Class.

In addition to authentic Hawaiian hospitality in flight, all Hawaiian Airlines Economy Class fares from New Zealand will include meals, refreshments, main screen video entertainment and blankets, while Business Class also will include more spacious seating, comfortable quilts and dig-E-player portable video entertainment units.

As well, all passengers flying Hawaiian Airlines from New Zealand will be entitled to a free checked baggage allowance of two items, each weighing up to 32 kilograms – one of the most generous checked baggage allowances in the airline industry.

Fares and schedule details will be announced by Hawaiian at a later date.

Auckland will be the eighth new destination to which Hawaiian has introduced service or announced new service to since November 2010, following Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Sapporo (October 30, 2012), Japan; Seoul, South Korea; New York City, and Brisbane, Australia (November 27, 2012).

About Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past eight years (2004-2011) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the highest of all domestic airlines serving Hawaii.

Now in its 83rd year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaii’s biggest and longest-serving airline, as well as the largest provider of passenger air service from its primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (11) than any other airline, along with service from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. New nonstop service between Honolulu and Sapporo, Japan and Brisbane, Australia will begin in October and November 2012, respectively. Hawaiian also provides approximately 170 daily jet flights between the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. Follow updates on Twitter about Hawaiian (@HawaiianAir) and its special fare offers (@HawaiianFares), and become a fan on its Facebook page (Hawaiian Airlines).

ENDS

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