Southwest Airlines announced today that they are expanding their Hawaii service from Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento airports. The new flights will go to Lihue on Kauai, Kona on the Big Island and Honolulu. Additional intra-island flights between Honolulu and Lihue along with new service from Sacramento to Honolulu will begin November 10, 2019.
Here Today, Gone to Maui
New service between Sacramento and Maui (Kahului) will begin on March 7, 2020. Additional new service in March 2020 will include these routes:
- Oakland – Lihue (Kauai)
- Oakland – Kona (Big Island)
- San Jose – Lihue (Kauai)
- San Jose – Kona (Big Island)
New Intra-island Service
Southwest, unlike its’ mainland competitors, has made inroads in the intra-island carriage. Many of the intra-island carriers have gone out of business over the years leaving Hawaiian as the dominant player in the intra-island game. Southwest will begin new intra-island service in November between Honolulu and Lihue (Kauai). This will bring the number of intra-island flights operated by Southwest to 34. The airline also connects Hilo on the Big Island’s east coast to Honolulu.
Highlights from Today’s Announcement
“Demand is strong for our Hawaii service and we’re not just increasing those routes to daily service for our customers, we’re also moving up our timeline on two routes set to begin in January, and instead will fly them this year,” said Adam Decaire, Vice President of Network Planning for Southwest. “Our flights between Sacramento and Honolulu, as well as interisland service between Honolulu and Lihue, Kauai will now begin November 10, 2019.”
In celebration of new service among the Islands, Southwest is also offering interisland travel for as low as $29 one-way from Nov. 12, 2019 through April 8, 2020. Fares are available today through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Oct. 3, 2019. Travel on these fares is valid only on certain days of the week and seats are limited. Blackout dates apply. Please see complete fare sale rules.
Hawaii schedule summary (as of the end of March 2020) highlighting today’s announcement:
Southwest Airlines continues to apply pricing pressures on airfares to the Aloha state, changing the game for consumers. With increased Hawaii service including intra-island, Southwest continues to make an impact. The new trans-Pacific service should be great news for flyers living in Northern California.
