Majors Expand Nonstop Hawaii Service, Add Island Links
<B> Majors Expand Nonstop Hawaii Service, Add Island Links</B>
By Judy Jacobs
Continental and United will more aggressively target Hawaii's mainland meetings and conventions market with the launch of new and expanded service.
By the second week of June, United will be the first carrier to serve all four islands from the mainland, while Continental kicks off the first nonstop from the East Coast.
Continental on June 10 will inaugurate daily nonstop service between Newark and Honolulu, the first nonstop route from the East Coast to Hawaii. Working together to boost inbound business from the eastern seaboard, Continental and the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau plan to aggressively promote the new route.
"On April 2, we had a meeting of our incentive travel advisory board in New York City" and met with the HVCB, said Brenda Davis, Continental's manager of group and incentive sales development. "On April 16, the HVCB coordinated a meetings, conventions and incentives trade show at the Rihga Royal Hotel in New York."
Continental also informed meeting planners and incentive companies across the United States, as well as members of its GroupWorks Grandeur program--made up of the carrier's 125 top producing group accounts--of the new East Coast route. Member clients receive a dedicated agent and special amenities in the group rooms at airports served by Continental.
Also on June 10, United will begin daily service from Los Angeles to Lihue, Kauai. At the same time, the airline will add another Los Angeles-Maui flight, bringing the total number of daily flights between the mainland and Maui to five, with three starting in Los Angeles and two originating in San Francisco.
United also flies twice a day to Kona on the Big Island, once from San Francisco and once from Los Angeles. It has nine flights to Honolulu from the mainland, one from Chicago and the rest split evenly between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The new Kauai service and the additional Maui flight are expected to give United a 5 percent increase in seat capacity for the summer, according to Norm Reader, United's managing director, Hawaii.
Indeed, the day after the two new flights begin will mark the opening of the new Hawai'i Convention Center. "United is bringing in 150 meeting planners from all over the U.S. and Japan for the event," Reader said.
"Although Hawaii is important for United, we deal with meeting planners on a national basis over a period of time. Planners may hold meetings in a series of United cities--they may have an event in Washington, D.C., this year, Los Angeles next year and Hawaii the next. With the opening of the Hawai'i Convention Center, the state will be part of our meetings network,"Reader said.
In other airline news, Hawaiian Airlines will implement drive-through checkin in Honolulu.
The new service will allow passengers to drive in or be dropped off at a checkin area adjacent to the terminal, check in with an agent and leave their bags. Virgin Atlantic was the first carrier to bring drive-through checkin to the United States earlier this year when it debuted the service at Newark Airport. Meanwhile, Hawaiian added several features to its frequent flyer program including a HawaiianMiles MasterCard permitting up to three members to pool mileage toward travel awards.