Delta Air Lines adds
daily Hawaii-Cincinnati flight
Delta Air Lines said today it will start daily nonstop service between Cincinnati and Honolulu this fall, opening up new markets for Hawaii's tourist industry and providing more evidence of a resurgence in mainland demand for Hawaii as a destination.
Delta earlier announced it would resume daily Atlanta-Honolulu nonstop service on Aug. 1.
The Ohio hub handles 563 Delta flights a day to points around the nation and the world, opening up new opportunities for travelers from Hawaii as well as opening the Hawaii market to more travelers, Delta said.
The new Cincinnati service will use the 285-seat Boeing 767-400. The Atlanta service will use a smaller Boeing 767 carrying up to 195 passengers.
Delta has direct daily flights to Honolulu from San Francisco and Los Angeles, a daily Los Angeles-Maui service and daily one-stop service to Honolulu from it main hub in Atlanta and from Salt Lake City.
Even before Delta's announcement, Hawaii tourism officials were predicting 2003 could produce a record number of airline seats from the mainland.
Tourism marketers have said they are particularly pleased that airlines are adding flights from markets beyond the West Coast, which are likely to produce more first-time Hawaii visitor who usually see more attractions and spend more money than repeaters.
One example is Continental Airlines' new daily nonstop service from Houston, Texas, to Maui, scheduled to start June 28. It will use a 235-passenger 767-400. Continental already has two daily nonstop Honolulu flights from Houston and one from Newark, N.J. Continental also runs a daily Los Angeles-Honolulu service.
American Airlines this week added three flights a week to its Los Angeles-Kona service, bringing its total to 10 flights a week. American also added four flights a week between Los Angeles and Lihue, bringing its Kauai service to 11 flights a week.