Alaska Airlines has confirmed that flights from Honolulu International Airport (HNL) to Auckland Airport (AKL) will no longer operate. The route has been served since 2013 and was flown during the northern winter. All future services have been removed.
Why was Hawaiian Airlines stated in the title? After all, Hawaiian was absorbed into the Alaska Air Group, with the disappearance of the Hawaiian air operating certificate, IATA code of HA, ‘Hawaiian’ call sign, and so on. It is now a separate brand that’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group. Alaska Airlines itself referred to Hawaiian in the press release.
Cirium Diio data shows that the carrier had served the long route to AKL since March 2013. Unsurprisingly, the Airbus A330-200, initially with 294 seats and later 278 seats, was used throughout. While a three-weekly frequency usually existed, it did occasionally jump to a five-weekly offering.
The link, which covered 3,814 nautical miles (7,064 km) each way, was flown on a year-round basis until the COVID-19 pandemic forced the suspension of flights in early 2020. They resumed in 2022, and once again operated throughout the year.
In 2024, AKL became a winter-seasonal operation. The final departure left HNL for AKL on April 18, 2026, when the HA IATA code still existed. The plan was for the route to return on November 15 using the AS code, with the following schedule. In confirming the end of AKL flights, Alaska stated that:
“Flights will not resume in November due to challenges of high fuel costs, soft demand recovery in international Pacific markets, unfavorable exchange rates, and evolving global travel trends. We must carefully allocate our limited capacity to markets where the demand is strongest.”
AKL was Hawaiian’s third destination Down Under. It came after Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD), which has been part of its network for decades (nonstop flights began in 2004), and Brisbane Airport (BNE), which was first served in 2012. While SYD still sees the carrier, BNE last did so in 2020.
Between March 2013 and April 2026, the US Department of Transportation shows that Hawaiian only transported 653,000 round-trip passengers to/from AKL. In the final season (November 2025 to April 2026), the carrier flew 27,454 passengers and filled 73.7% of the available seats.
While the load factor is only one performance measure, the result was low in itself and in comparison to Hawaiian’s other international routes in this period (80.8%). It was far lower than for the airline’s overall Asia routes (85.4%) but higher than for SYD (72.1%). None of these things say anything about fares and yields.
Relating the 27,454 passengers to booking data indicates that approximately 40% connected to another flight in HNL. The top five segments were Kahului, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Seattle, San Francisco, and Kona. The airline only captured about one in every 25 of the passengers who flew between AKL and these places. Indeed, it is surprising that Hawaiian didn’t capture more connecting traffic, which would have boosted the route’s load factor, but which may have reduced overall yields.
Hawaiian served HNL-AKL alongside Air New Zealand, which will now have the market to itself. Fiji Airways and Qantas offered connecting flights en route. Between November 2025 and April 2026, the local HNL-AKL market had approximately 36,000 passengers. Hawaiian secured 47% of that volume.
Found an error? Send it info@simpleflying.com so it can be corrected.
The carrier will begin two routes to Hawaii, neither of which has had nonstop flights in 12 years. Find out more here!
Hawaiian Now Plans Five Routes From HNL To Asia-Pacific
Let’s focus on November 2026 to April 2027, when Hawaiian had planned to fly to AKL. In that period, the carrier will continue to fly from HNL to Osaka Kansai (daily A330-200), Rarotonga (weekly A321neo), Papeete (twice-weekly A330-200), SYD (up to daily A330-200), and Tokyo Haneda (twice-daily A330-200). All flights will, of course, use the AS code.
The freed-up A330-200 will now be redeployed to where it may perform better. This appears to be HNL to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), serving Las Vegas, with that route’s frequency rising to four daily departures during the upcoming winter.
Orijinal Haberi Görüntüle
