Hawaiian Airlines’ plan for expansion into Asia and other destinations took a major step forward with yesterday’s announcement by the Department of Transportation (DOT) giving final approval to its application to offer nonstop daily service between Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Honolulu International Airport.
Hawaiian’s first-ever commercial service to Japan is scheduled to begin October 31, and will add approximately 100,000 new air seats annually to Hawaii from its second-largest tourism market. The start date for ticket sales will be announced soon.
Flights are tentatively scheduled to depart Tokyo shortly before midnight and arrive in Honolulu around noon the same day. The return flight will depart Honolulu in early evening and arrive in Tokyo in late evening the next day. (Tokyo is 19 hours ahead of Honolulu and the flight crosses the International Dateline.)