Alaska Airlines has announced it will begin serving Hawaii, with daily service from Seattle to Honolulu and Lihue, plus seasonal service from Anchorage.
The airline will offer year-round daily flights beginning Oct. 12 between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Honolulu, and nonstop between Seattle and Lihue on the island of Kauai starting Oct. 28. Seasonal service between Anchorage and Honolulu starts Dec. 9.
The Hawaii Superferry has delayed its scheduled July launch by at least a month as it goes through extensive inspections, the company said.
The ferry, a four-story catamaran built in Mobile, Ala., is expected to start service "later this summer," although a specific date hasn't been set.
The ferry must complete a rigorous U.S. Coast Guard certification and inspection process, said Superferry president and CEO John Garibaldi. This is the first ship of its kind built by Austal USA. A second ship is planned, also for Hawaii interisland service.
The company declined to give specifics on the delay while the inspection process continues.
Once the first ferry, named the Alakai, departs Mobile, it will travel through the Panama Canal, refuel in Los Angeles and head for Hawaii. Its arrival date in Hawaii will be announced once the ferry sets sail.
Hawaiian Airlines has reached an agreement with Continental Airlines that enables members of Hawaiian's frequent-flyer program to earn and redeem miles when they fly Continental anywhere in the U.S., according to Travel Weekly magazine.
This new code-sharing agreement between Hawaiian and Continental includes a mileage-earning benefit.
The agreement also allows members of Continental's frequent-flyer program to earn 500 miles for every interisland flight on Hawaiian.
In addition to enhanced frequent-flyer benefits, Travel Weekly stated the new program permits Hawaiian to offer its customers one-stop service between Honolulu and Cleveland, with Continental providing the connections to Cleveland from Hawaiian's gateways in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Phoenix.
Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines continued to take the tops spots as the nation's most reliable air carriers in the first quarter of the year, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data.
Hawaiian's flights in March arrived on time 93.9 percent of the time, and the airline canceled only one of its 4,683 flights, earning it the top rank in both categories for the third consecutive month.
Aloha's flights came in on scheduled 93.2 percent of the time in March, earning for the third consecutive month a second-place finish in the category.
Frontier Airlines' came in at a distant third, with 84.8 percent on-time arrivals in March.
Book your air fights at Travel-Hawaii.
United Airlines is taking a minority stake in its codeshare partner, Aloha Airlines, according to Pacific Business News.
United said the investment "could expand over time."
Chicago-based United, which only recently regained some of its financial footing after more than three years in bankruptcy, made the announcement Thursday.
Hawaii's legacy carriers - Hawaiiain and Aloha - have come in an out of bankruptcy in the last several years. Both are having to deal with last years entrance of low-cost rival Go! airlines.
Some folks like to beat the summer rush and visit Hawaii in May. If you get here by the 1st, it's Lei Day. Everyone gives and receives leis from intoxicatingly sweet pikake to homemade hand-strung plumerias to the eternally-prized maile lei. Chances are that if you have a nice smile, you'll get lei'd. If Lei Day is too soon, you might consider a Memorial Day weekend visit. The sunny beaches and warm waters of Hawaii are only a plane fare away. Whether you prefer the Big Island, Kauai, Maui, Oahu, Molokai or Lanai, the fragrant flowers of Hawaii await you!
