Honolulu-based Aloha Airlines, which successfully inaugurated transpacific services to the US mainland last year, is planning to extend its operation deeper into the western states with new onward services to LasVegas, Nevada.
The airline began its transpacific flights last year when it received the first of five Boeing 737-700s on order which was deployed on twice daily services between Hawaii and Oakland, California. Two 737-700s are now in service, and from February, Aloha will initiate daily round trips between Honolulu and Las Vegas, and between Kahului, Maui and Las Vegas. Both flights will include a connecting stop-over in Oakland.
Aloha says the route is starting because the Nevada city is the "number one travel destination for Hawaii residents", and because of the large numbers of Hawaiians currently living in Las Vegas.
Aloha, which carried more than five million passengers last year and lays claim to around 60% of the inter-island market, says it is also studying "services to several markets in Southern California". These include Orange County's John Wayne airport, where initial route-proving trials have already taken place.
Source: Flight International
