Japan Airlines eliminates 7 more flights to Hawai'i

By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer

In its second schedule cut in less than a month, Japan Airlines said yesterday it will trim seven more flights from its Hawai'i operations, putting the total reduction in weekly service to the Islands to around 30 percent.

Japan Airlines, the No. 1 carrier between Hawai'i and Japan, said continued low demand is prompting it to eliminate its six weekly flights from Sendai to Honolulu through Dec. 26. Advertiser library photo • Aug. 25, 2000

Previously announced changes — a cut in Tokyo-Honolulu service from 24 to 14 flights a week and a 50 percent reduction in Osaka-Honolulu flights to seven per week — will be extended through Dec. 26. Those cuts originally were scheduled to end Nov. 30.

Since the beginning of October, Japan Airlines has cut its total weekly flights to Hawai'i from 75 to 51.

The cuts spelled more bad news for Hawai'i, already pummeled by a 25 percent drop in visitors since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

While visitor numbers to the islands from the U.S. Mainland have begun to creep back up, arrivals from Japan remain down nearly 60 percent.

On O'ahu, where more than 90 percent of all Japanese visitors stay, visitor arrivals were down 34 percent in September compared with the same month last year, and are down nearly 4 percent so far for the year.

"You'd have to run some numbers to know exactly what it's going to mean for Hawai'i, but it's terrible news," said Sharon Weiner, group vice president for DFS Hawaii, which caters to a Japanese clientele. "It's terrible news on top of terrible news."

Others said they understood that the precipitous drop in demand for air travel was to blame, but that they were confident Japan Airlines will restore service when the numbers pick up.

"If the people aren't coming on the planes right now, it doesn't make sense for them to send empty seats," said Bill Hurley, managing director for the Sheraton Waikiki and Royal Hawaiian hotels, which get about half their business from Japanese guests. "What's important to Hawai'i is their commitment to increase demand and to add back flights as that demand increases."

JAL spokesman Geoffrey Tudor said that if demand is there the company hopes to operate its regular, full schedule — and possibly add extra flights — during the Christmas and New Year's holiday period.

In the meantime, the airline will try to increase its flights to China and South Korea, Tudor said.

"Demand on those routes at the moment is rather strong," he said. "And since we're forced to cut back on areas where traffic is declining, we're trying to recoup by feeding capacity to routes where there is still strong demand."

The cuts come less than two weeks after Gov. Ben Cayetano returned from Japan on a mission to promote tourism to Hawai'i. Cayetano and several top tourism executives said repeatedly during the visit that maintaining Japan Airlines' capacity was a key to the recovery of Hawai'i's tourism industry. They were encouraged when Japan Airlines president Isao Kaneko told them on Oct. 9 that he would resume suspended flights as soon as demand warranted.

Michele Kayal can be reached at mkayal@honoluluadvertiser.com