Hawaiian Airlines transported nearly 8.7 million travelers in 2011, an increase of more than 240,000 passengers over the carrier’s 2010 total and the most in the company’s 82-year history.
The airline also saw its revenue-producing miles climb sharply year over year, logging more than 10 billion miles in 2011, a 17% jump over 2010’s figure, according to data released by Hawaiian earlier this month.
Last year’s record-breaking traffic on Hawaiian flights no doubt stems, in part, from its beefed-up nonstop service to Asia, beginning with its daily flight between Honolulu and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport launched in late 2010. The airline then added flights to Seoul and to Osaka, Japan, in 2011 and plans to debut year-round, daily flights between Honolulu and Fukuoka on Japan’s Kyushu Island this April.
Hawaiian also increased service to the U.S. mainland in 2011 and will debut nonstop, daily service between Honolulu and New York’s Kennedy Airport in June in addition to adding a third daily, year-round flight between Honolulu and Los Angeles the same month.
On Jan. 12, the carrier announced plans to create a hub on Maui aimed at improving interisland connections between the Valley Isle and the rest of the state along with nonstop flights from the West Coast.
“This investment in our core business here in Hawaii will increase service between Maui and other neighbor islands by 25%,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO.
Hawaiian officials said they will add 23 to 25 new interisland flights in the coming weeks, including additional nonstop service between Maui and both the Big Island and Kauai supported by three recently acquired three Boeing 717-200 jets.
The company is also restarting nonstop service between Maui and Los Angeles June 21 through Aug. 18. Hawaiian currently flies nonstop between Maui and the West Coast gateway cities of Seattle; San Jose and Oakland, Calif.; and Las Vegas.
“Hawaiian’s expansion plan for Kahului Airport is good news for neighbor island residents and will make air travel between our islands easier while also increasing opportunities to showcase Maui as a visitor destination,” said State Sen. J. Kalani English.
Maui welcomed nearly 2 million visitors, or just over 30% of the state’s total arrivals, during the first 11 months of 2011.