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Contact:
Dave
Email: dave@pon.net
For
immediate release
Hawaiian Launches Service to Seoul, South
Korea
HONOLULU – Hawaiian Airlines
today spread its wings deeper into Asia, with the launch of its new
nonstop service between Honolulu and Seoul, South Korea. Seoul
represents Hawaiian’s first destination on the Asia continent and its
third Asia destination overall, having previously launched service to
Manila (April 2008) and Tokyo (November 2010). Hawaiian’s inaugural
flight today to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport began with a
pre-flight ceremony at the boarding gate at Honolulu International
Airport that featured Hawaiian music and hula, a special Korean cultural
dance performance, traditional Hawaiian blessing, and the giving of
fresh flower lei to departing passengers.
Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO, stated, “This is another
history-making day for Hawaiian as we expand even farther into Asia with
our new flights to Seoul and introduce our unique brand of inflight
service that promotes the Hawaii travel experience. We are thrilled
about flying into Incheon International Airport, which is one of the
world’s most modern airports and a major hub for connecting flights
throughout Asia.”
To attract Korean travelers and meet their service expectations for the
Incheon-Honolulu route, Hawaiian is complementing its award-winning
“Hawaii Starts Here” inflight experience celebrating Hawaii’s culture,
people and natural beauty, with a customized presentation adapted to the
Korean culture, featuring new pan-Asian cuisine, Korean entertainment
options, and special onboard amenities.Hawaiian is providing nonstop
service four days weekly to Incheon, adding 54,000 new air seats
annually to a market that has been rapidly growing since Korea joined
the U.S. Visa Waiver Program in2008. According to information provided
by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), arrivals year-to-date from Korea
to Hawaii through November 2010 totaled 79,131 visitors, an increase of
75.3 percent compared to the same period in 2009. HTA is projecting that
Hawaii will receive 115,000 visitors from Korea in 2011.
Mike McCartney, Hawaii Tourism Authority president and CEO, commented,
“Today’s launch of direct service to Incheon International Airport in
Seoul is positive news for Hawaii’s visitor industry and another sign
that our tourism economy is continuing to recover. The HTA estimates
that the new flight will bring in approximately $86.4 million in annual
visitor expenditures.”
McCartney added, “Along with the increase in leisure visitors from
Korea, this route also creates an opportunity for more meetings,
convention and incentive business out of Korea because meeting planners
will be able to pursue larger groups with greater assurance that seat
inventory will be available. We are committed to supporting Hawaiian
Airlines, in collaboration with our contractor Hawaii Tourism Asia and
Hawaii’s visitor industry, to ensure the long-term success of the new
route.” Hawaiian’s Incheon service will help meet the growing demand of
Korean travelers while also making it easier for other Asian travelers
to reach Hawaii, a position supported by Tae-Soo Yeo, head of the
aviation sales team at Incheon International Airport Corporation.
Mr. Yeo commented, “Since Korea joined the U.S. Visa Waiver Program,
Hawaii has been enjoying significant growth in the number of travelers.
However, even before Korea became a member of the U.S. Visa Waiver
Program, the Incheon-Honolulu route has been a popular route for
Northeast Asians. In fact, Japanese and Chinese flying to Hawaii and by
transferring flights at Incheon account for 40 percent of Incheon-Honolulu
route users.”
Starting today, Hawaiian’s Flight #459 departs Honolulu International
Airport four days weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays
at 1:20 p.m. and arrives at Incheon International Airport at 8:05 p.m.
the following day.
Return Flight #460 departs Incheon on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and
Sundays at 10:15 p.m. and arrives in Honolulu at 11:00 a.m. the same
day. (South Korea is 19 hours ahead of Honolulu and the flight crosses
the International Dateline.
Hawaiian will initially serve the Incheon-Honolulu route using its
wide-body, twin-aisle Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, which comfortably seats
up to 264 passengers with 18 in Business Class and 246 in Economy Class.
Hawaiian plans to introduce its new and larger 294-seat Airbus A330-200
aircraft onto the route at a later date.
Tickets for the Incheon flights can be purchased online via Hawaiian’s
Korean-language website at
www.HawaiianAirlines.co.kr, its English-language website at
www.HawaiianAirlines.com
or by calling toll-free in the U.S. through its reservations center at
1-800-367-5320 or through its sales office in South Korea at
82-2-775-5552.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian is the nation’s highest-ranked carrier for service quality and
performance in 2009 in the 20th annual Airline Quality Rating study,
having earned that distinction in three of the past four years. Hawaiian
has also led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the
past six years (2004-2009) as reported by the U.S. Department of
Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel +
Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the top domestic airline
offering flights to Hawaii. Now in its 82nd year of continuous service
for Hawaii, Hawaiian is the state’s biggest and longest-serving airline,
as well as the largest provider of passenger air service to Hawaii from
the state’s primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian
offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (10) than
any other airline, as well as service to South Korea, Japan, the
Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. Hawaiian also
provides more than 150 daily jet flights between the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc.
(NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at
HawaiianAirlines.com.
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