Hawaiian Airlines has announced that it will be surrendering its daily round-trip slot for the Tokyo/Haneda to Honolulu-Kona routes.
The airline will suspend its four times a week HA856/855 flights between Tokyo/Haneda and Honolulu and three times a week HA852/851 flights between Tokyo/Haneda and Kona from April 3rd. The aircraft will be reallocated to other routes to meet seasonal demands within the network. As a result of the suspension, the slot will be returned.
Brent Overbeek, the Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), stated, “The direct flights between Haneda and Kona have been valuable to our customers, and the decision to suspend them was not made lightly. Japan continues to be an important international market for Hawaiian Airlines, and we are committed to providing our valued customers with exceptional service on flights from Tokyo (Haneda and Narita), Osaka, and Fukuoka to Honolulu, maintaining convenient connections to the Hawaiian Islands.”
According to documents submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation, before the spread of COVID-19, flights originating from Tokyo had an occupancy rate of 89.6% from Japan, which was significantly higher than 39.4% for other American airlines. While travel demand in Asia and Japan is among the last to recover, and although the number of visitors from Japan to Hawaii is steadily recuperating, Hawaiian Airlines is only experiencing a 34.2% recovery, not generating sufficient demand. Factors such as the weaker yen and the surge in hotel prices in Hawaii have also contributed to headwinds. Despite gradually increasing the number of flights for the winter schedule, the airline commented, “Under the present market conditions, it is economically impossible to continue operating this flight.”
