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Japan Air
increasing
isle service

The move is in response
to cutbacks from United
and Continental airlines

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By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Japan Airlines Inc. is boosting its winter service to Hawaii by as much as four flights a week citing strong demand.

The added flights could bring more than 16,000 additional JAL passengers to the islands in the five months from November through March.

But overall travel from Japan to Hawaii is likely to increase only slightly, however, since JAL's added flights are largely to counter cutbacks by other carriers, notably United and Continental airlines, said Gilbert Kimura, JAL's regional sales manager in Hawaii.

JAL recently posted a new schedule that calls for 25 Tokyo-Honolulu flights a week in November, an increase of one weekly flight from previous plans, and 26 flights a week in January.

Osaka-Honolulu flights have been increased to 16 a week in November and March, from the previously scheduled 14, and will increase further to 19 a week through December, January and February, up two from the 17 a week previously scheduled.

The aircraft in JAL's fleet range from about 240 passengers to more than 400, for an average of about 300 seats; if the 56 extra flights this winter are filled, then JAL customers to Hawaii will grow by nearly 17,000.

JAL is working to build up traffic from regional airports away from the biggest cities, but there is still heavy demand for Hawaii flights from Tokyo and Osaka, Kimura said.

"There's a problem getting gates," he said, referring to traffic restrictions at Tokyo's airport, Narita, and Osaka's Kansai.

"We're not able to increase service as much as we want to," Kimura added

Through the first nine months of this year, Hawaii attracted 1,398,336 visitors arriving by air from Japan, down 0.8 percent from 1,409,611 in the first nine months of 1999, according to the state. While Japan's outgoing tourism has been strong recently, much of the increase has gone to destinations closer to home, such as Korea and Bali.