Hawaiian Airlines will resume flights to Fukuoka (FUK), nearly returning to its pre-pandemic roster of Japanese airports served.
From April 28, the carrier will operate 3X-weekly Airbus A330 service between Honolulu (HNL) and FUK. That will leave Sapporo (CTS) as the one pre-pandemic Japanese market still unserved by Hawaiian.
The airline has taken a cautious approach to restarting service to Japan, pointing to slow-to-return demand for outbound international travel from the country. Both All Nippon Airways and United Airlines have also reported weak outbound demand from Japan since the country’s COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed in October 2022.
“We’re delighted to be returning to Fukuoka as we lead the way in reconnecting travel between Hawaii and Japan,” Hawaiian senior VP-global sales and alliances Theo Panagiotoulias said in a statement, adding that the airline remains “steadfast in our commitment” to the Japanese market.
The airline currently operates daily A330 service from HNL to Tokyo Haneda (HND), Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Osaka (KIX). It had served FUK just since November 2019 when the route was suspended by Hawaiian in March 2020.
In addition to Japan, Hawaiian flies to the Pacific markets of American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Tahiti.