Hawaiian Air to Hawaiian Airlines will start daily nonstop flights between Maui and Seattle in February, using the widebody 767-300ER Boeing jets it will be leasing later this year.
launch Maui-Seattle
nonstop service
The flights will begin in February
on the carrier's 767 jetsBy Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com
It is the first time any carrier has offered a direct link in both directions between Kahului Airport and Seattle, Hawaiian said.
Hawaiian has been running nonstop service between Seattle and Honolulu since 1986.
The new service will fill an increasing demand for service between Maui and the Pacific Northwest and is made possible by the more favorable operating economy of the 767 compared to the McDonnell- Douglas DC-10s that Hawaiian uses now, said Paul J. Casey, the airline's vice chairman and chief executive officer.
"Maui continues to be one of the most popular destinations in the islands for passengers departing from Seattle and this new service will get them there and back with the utmost in comfort and convenience," he said. So far, Seattle travelers have had to go through Honolulu to get to Maui.
Hawaiian also plans to use the 767-300ER aircraft on the Honolulu-San Diego daily nonstop service where it now operates DC-10s, Casey said.
Hawaiian has arranged to lease seven of the two-aisle 767s, with three for delivery this year and the other four through the first half of 2002. Each aircraft will carry 18 passengers in first class and 234 coach.
The airline is phasing out its DC-10s, which carry between 299 and 304 passengers. By the end of this year it will also have replaced its interisland fleet of 133-seat McDonnell-Douglas DC-9s with a new fleet of 13 more-economical 123-passenger Boeing 717-200 aircraft.