Hawaiian Airlines to fly to Manila

The airline will make its first foray into Asia starting in March

Hawaiian Airlines, expanding internationally for the first time in three years, will offer nonstop service between Honolulu and Manila beginning in March.

It will mark Hawaiian's first entry into Asia and the next step in an international growth plan that began in May 2004 with flights to Sydney, Australia.

The carrier will offer at least four flights a week that will take 11 hours for the 4,800 nautical-mile trip.

Hawaiian said the service will help improve the business and leisure ties between Hawaii and the Philippines.

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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian Airlines CEO and president, announced yesterday that the airline will start service to the Philippines in March.

Hawaiian Airlines, expanding into Asia for the first time, plans to offer nonstop service between Honolulu and Manila at least four times a week beginning in March.

It will be Hawaiian's first new international route since May 2004, when it began flying to Sydney, Australia. Hawaiian's only other international destinations now is Tahiti. It also flies to the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

Mark Dunkerley, president and chief executive of Hawaiian, said the airline anticipates carrying more than 100,000 passengers a year between the two cities on its 264-seat Boeing 767 aircraft, with fares he said will be "competitive."

The airline still needs approval from the U.S. and Philippine governments before it can begin selling tickets.

"Our research shows that 170,000 (people) traveled between Honolulu and Manila in the past year and the market is ripe for growth," Dunkerley said. "We're confident that the addition of our new service is going to more than double that number, and we're confident it will provide more opportunities for economic development in trade between Hawaii and the Philippines."

Ariel Abadilla, consul general of the Philippines, called the announcement "welcome news" for the leisure and business sector in the Philippines and Hawaii.

"The fact that Hawaiian Airlines has chosen Manila to be its gateway to Asia is very significant," Abadilla said. "There have been long-standing links between the Philippines and Hawaii, and those links are continuously strengthened day by day. The very large Filipino American population in Hawaii -- I am very, very sure -- they'll be jumping for joy to know there is more than one airline that will be serving their needs, especially considering the heavy passage of traffic between Honolulu and Manila."

Philippine Airlines is the only carrier currently offering nonstop service -- three times a week -- between the two cities. Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines offer one-stop service.

Dunkerley said Hawaiian's flights will leave Honolulu in the early afternoon and arrive in Manila later the following afternoon due to the international dateline. Departures from Manila will be in the early evening and arrive in Honolulu at midday the same day. The 5,520-mile flights will take 11 hours.

"We all know Hawaii has very deep family ties to the Philippines," he said. "Last year's centennial celebration not only reminded us all how much the Filipino community has grown in Hawaii, but it also reminded us how important it is to our history, our culture and, indeed, our future."

Manila, with its 10 million residents, has long been one of the cities that Hawaiian has looked at for possible expansion. Hawaii residents who consider themselves full or mixed Filipinos represent the state's third-largest ethnic group at 23.5 percent, according to the latest household data available in the 2005 U.S. Census Bureau.

There were 290,705 full and mixed Filipinos in the last census count, excluding people in the military, nursing and prison. Caucasians and Japanese are the top two ethnic groups at 40.4 percent and 24.1 percent, respectively.

Jack Legal, president of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce, said Hawaiian's service will encourage not only Filipinos but other ethnic groups to visit the Philippines.

"Now we can fly Hawaiian Airlines and direct," he said. "It's almost like flying direct to Las Vegas. You're not missing a lot of time. This will allow us an opportunity to visit the Philippines, enjoy the Philippines and really develop an economic and business link between Hawaii and the Philippines."

Marsha Wienert, state tourism liaison, said the new service will open the door for increased tourism, business and educational opportunities.

Dunkerley said Hawaiian plans to bring back 11 furloughed pilots because of the new service, as well as a smaller number of flight attendants. He said Hawaiian also will need to reduce frequency on some of its West Coast routes to accommodate the new service, but hasn't yet identified those routes.

In the early 1990s, Hawaiian did have another opportunity to serve Asia when it won a route to Fukuoka, Japan, but it didn't have the correct aircraft at the time and ended up allowing Northwest to operate Hawaiian's route with Northwest aircraft and crew.