Hawaii Airlines starts Honolulu-Manila service
By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:35:00 04/15/2008
Hawaiian Airlines (HAL) out of Honolulu lands in Manila for the first time this Tuesday, opening a regular direct service between the two points.
Carrying around 160 passengers, the inaugural flight that took off from the HAL hub at Honolulu International Airport will touch down at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 at 3:15 p.m.
HAL’s entry into the country follows the exit of the German airline Lufthansa, which pulled out of NAIA-1 last month. Lufthansa, which flew daily between Manila and Frankfurt, terminated flights to the Philippines to move to other Asian routes.
Under its regular schedule, HAL will fly into Manila at 5:15 p.m. four times a week—on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday—then turn around and fly back to Honolulu at 7 p.m. using a 258-seat Boeing 767-300.
“Their schedule does not coincide with our peak hours so we can accommodate it,” said Manila International Airport Authority operations chief Octavio Lina, allaying concerns the HAL operation would add to overcrowding at NAIA-1.
“And the plane they’ll be using is not too big,” he added. “I think there’ll be just 100-plus passengers initially since it’s just starting out and their marketing is only beginning.”
Peak arrival and departure hours at NAIA-1 are from early morning to 2:30 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to midnight.
With the HAL flights, Philippine Airlines (PAL), which flies to Honolulu and back on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, has some direct competition.
PAL spokesperson Rolly Estabillo said, “We’ll do what we have to do, just like on the other routes we have … It all depends on how things will develop.” Edited by INQUIRER.net
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