China Air
eliminates
three isle flights

The Taiwan-based carrier is
calling the move temporary

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

China Airlines will drop its direct Taipei-Honolulu service, which it has run since July 1993, on May 1. But the Taiwan-based airline says it is by no means losing interest in the Hawaii market.

"We're not dropping out of Honolulu," said Hawaii sales manager James Tsaur, who called the change a temporary suspension of the three direct flights a week.

China Airlines will keep its five flights a week from Taipei to Honolulu via Tokyo's Haneda Airport, a service it has run for 31 years, Tsaur said.

"It's very possible we'll get back to the direct service," he said, but a fleet replacement program leaves it with an insufficient number of aircraft now.

China Airlines is the only airline with direct Taipei-Honolulu service and Tsaur said demand is strong.

China Southern Airlines, from the People's Republic of China, looked into the possibility of a Taipei-Honolulu route when China Airlines decided to drop it, but decided against it, said Su Liyi, the airline's marketing manager in Los Angeles.

"We have just evaluated the routing. We have no plans to come to Hawaii," Liyi said.

The airline does not believe the route serves its revenue needs adequately, Liyi said.

At the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, Wei Wei Ojiri, vice president for developing international markets, said Hawaii remains the most-desired overseas destination among Taiwanese.

Any lack of service has more to do with Asian airlines' inability to order new aircraft, she said, and that is why Taiwan-based EVA Airways previously dropped out of Hawaii service.