A huge shift is underway in Hawaii travel. It comes with a shakeup in competition as airlines new to Hawaii, and existing ones with new fleets, arrive on our tropical shores. The result is a sharp reduction is airfare to the islands, with some recent roundtrips ranging from a low of $197 to a high of just $338.
The reason? First, Hawaiian Airlines has already begun delivery of 18 Airbus A321neo planes. Some new Hawaiian Air routes using the planes have already been announced. The Airbus 321neo fleet allows Hawaiian to compete head on with Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines and others on many routes for the first time. These other carriers already use efficient, narrow body aircraft for all but the heaviest traveled routes to Honolulu and Maui. Hawaiian has not had similar planes until now. The new Hawaiian planes will soon replace both the legacy wide-body Boeing 767 aircraft and the current generation wide-body A330 planes on these less traveled routes.
Southwest Airlines is also re-fleeting with 737MAX that started arriving in 2017. Southwest Hawaii flights have been proclaimed by the company with specific Hawaii route announcements to follow later this year. Actual Hawaii flights on Southwest will start at the end of 2018 or beginning of 2019.
Alaska Airlines is beginning delivery of its next generation, longer range 737MAX fleet this year. They are also getting new A321neo planes.
New fleets mentioned above will in many ways benefit the neighbor islands more than Honolulu or even Maui. The reason is that until now, there were more routes and better competition those two primary airports, compared with the Big Island and Kauai.
There’s never been a better time to book a stay with us here at Sands of Kahana!