Hawaiian Airlines is eyeing expansion after it committed to buying 10 Boeing 787-9s.
The airline’s President and CEO Peter Ingram told AirlineRatings.com that longer range destinations “such as London and Perth Australia were certainly options”.
“While delivery is three years away, we have not yet examined in detail the different markets but the Boeing 787 gives us many interesting possibilities.”
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The airline ordered 10 787s and 10 price rights for delivery from the first quarter of 2021.
Mr Ingram confirmed that the order replaces the airline’s commitment for six A330-800neos for which it was the only customer.
Hawaiian Airlines is one of the Pacific’s great success stories and its fleet now numbers 53 and it flies to 28 destinations.
“The 787 Dreamliner combines excellent comfort for our guests with fantastic operational performance and will allow us to continue modernizing our fleet into the next decade,” said Mr Ingram.
“It has more seating capacity than Hawaiian’s current wide-body fleet, which will allow us to further build upon our successful growth in Asia.”
He added that “the Dreamliner’s excellent fuel efficiency makes the 787-9 an ideal choice for Hawaiian’s long-haul Asia / Pacific and North America routes.”
On the balance of the fleet, Mr Ingram said that the airline’s remaining 8 Boeing 767-300ERs would leave the fleet this year being replaced by the Airbus A321neo.
The airline has two in its fleet and another 16 on order.
“These aircraft will exclusively do Hawaii to the west coast of the USA, “ said Mr Ingram.
The airline’s fleet of 24 A330-200s will continue in service till the end of the next decade but will in time be “replaced by 787s” says Mr Ingram.
However, there is no replacement on the horizon for the airline’s hard working 20 Boeing 717s which can do up to 16 cycles a day on the inter-islands.
“The 717s are robust and uniquely suited to our inter-island operations,” said Mr Ingram.
Replacement timeframe, because of the high cycles is 2020-2025.
Now in its 89th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawaii’s biggest and longest-serving airline.
It offers non-stop service to Hawaii from more US gateway cities (11) than any other airline, along with service from Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa and Tahiti.
The airline operates approximately 170 jet flights daily between the Hawaiian Islands, with a total of more than 250 daily flights system-wide.
