Well here are some cool new airline routes…
Continue reading: Hawaiian Airlines Will Fly To Austin & Orlando
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
These are very interesting additions. I understand the California additions, especially using the 321. California's will be looking to travel domestically as it is safer than internationally with pandemic conditions of travel.
Austin route- okay this makes some sense given international travel is depressed and Austin is a growing city quickly filling up with 20 and 30-year-olds, working in the rapidly developing tech industry who are eager to travel. As we have seen KLM and Lufthansa reduce or eliminate service momentarily this makes sense. They can't go and sit in Mykonos or Paris this summer.
Orlando. Very confusing IMO>> Orlando is not a wealthy city so I do not expect much demand between MCO and HNL. So who is this route intended for?
It seems that it would have been smarter to fly to DC or Miami, but Orlando...well okay odd choice
Great news for Austin-Bergstrom. Pre-COVID, AUS had just finished a 2019 terminal expansion, and during the summer of 2020 we were expected to have BA, LH, KLM, and Norwegian (LGW, CDG) running transatlantic flights. Good to see more service announced from Central Texas!
The 12 hour ground times are standard for most Hawaiian Airlines flights. Almost all of their Hawaii-West Coast flights have aircraft sit on the ground at the west coast stations overnight so that they can fly at the optimal times for vacationers to Hawaii. (They have almost no long-haul aircraft overnight in HNL.)
That said, I don't know what's going on in Orlando. It almost looks like there is an error in the days of week planned for in that schedule.
@sharon, is there an angle that Hawaii locals might want to go to Orlando, vs the other way around? I know there's parks in LA as well but... i think at least some people believe Florida is the best.
I'm interested in flying Hawaiian using JetBlue miles in 2022. Using the JetBlue award chart, I wonder if Austin will count as a West Coast or East Coast origination point.
United has a big hangar at MCO where they've traditionally worked on 757s and 767s. Perhaps they have a maintenance agreement there?
Unrelated, but just got email on Marriott targeted offer (Earn one free night at 35,000 pt or less property for each of my 1st and 2nd stays by March 31).
Not sure if this is widespread or not, but much better than other recent promos I've gotten from them.
Can you redeem Hawaiian miles with a connection on a US48 airline like American jetblue or United?
Let’s say HNL to MCO to NYC?
It’s possible that Hawaiian’s might want to visit Florida but they don’t have any Covid regulations in place, ridiculous.
They don’t wear masks down there, no social distancing, nothing.
Hawaii will need to continue strict measures especially as Covid will now be coming in from Florida. Deathsantis as they say
About MCO.... It does allow for an interesting vacation for folks coming from Asia or South America......
The Ontario and Long Beach routes make sense, though their success, or even launch, like the rest, will depend on the pandemic. AUS makes sense and at twice a week, it's relatively low risk to a fast growing metropolitan area and the demand is likely there and a great option to avoid having to connect via DFW or IAH. MCO makes no sense.
As someone who's home airport is MCO this is excellent news, especially since we are planning to head to HNL for New Years next year.
We really have crap for direct flights outside the continental US, so I'll take whatever we can get!
I used to live Orlando and disposable income isn’t something a lot of families have. Wages are very low and main industry is tourism. I don’t see many families being able to afford Hawaiian vacations. Plus the Caribbean is only 2 hour flight and 1/3 of the cost. I personally prefer the Caribbean any day over Hawaii. Better beaches, better weather, better entertainment and turquoise water. I don’t see this route lasting. Hell I would even take Cancun over Honolulu. Yeah I said.
I would venture to guess the MCO route is far more about bringing visitors from Hawaii or points further east to Disney World than it is about Floridians vacationing in Hawaii.
Yes there is Disney in California, but many of my LA friends fly to MCO specifically for Disney's vastly larger scope of entertainment there.
I think this will be a perfect route for Japanese/Chinese tourists going to Orlando before the situation we were in you would see them in abundance I believe Chinese and Japanese were #2 and #3 tourist groups to Orlando outside of us. with MCO being my home airport this is great its 14+ hours with layovers to HNL this is welcome news. Who would not want a layover in Honolulu vs say somewhere else?
Orlando actually isnt surprising if you live here. The composition of Orlando has actually changed a lot in the past few years and is one of the fastest growing cities in the US. I moved here three years ago from NY, and we have a lot of professionals who have relocated from the northeast. Mostly medical in my neck of the woods. A third terminal was added to the airport recently to be able to add more flights both for those coming to Disney and for those of us wanting to travel out of Orlando.
HNL-MCO is the Aulani Express, just like the LAX-MCO is labeled as the Disneyland Express.