United adds 2nd S.F.-Kona nonstop flight

By Susan Hooper
Advertiser Staff Writer

United Airlines will add a second nonstop daily flight between San Francisco and Kona starting June 7, bringing to four the number of daily nonstop flights by the carrier between the West Coast and Kona.

"The loads out of Kona have been very good," Tom Renville, managing director, United Airlines-Hawai'i, said yesterday. "It's really about where the demand is for us, and so we're kind of responding to that."

United also operates two nonstop daily flights between Los Angeles and Kona.

The new Kona flight continues a recent trend by airlines of adding direct flights between the West Coast and the Neighbor Islands. The flights appeal to West Coast visitors who prefer not to stop in Honolulu before traveling to other islands.

American Airlines announced earlier this week that it will start daily nonstop service between Lihu'e, Kaua'i, on June 15. Hawaiian Airlines will be starting daily nonstop service between Seattle and Kahului, Maui, next Friday, and adding a daily nonstop San Francisco-Maui flight in June.

Renville said United remains equally interested in the Honolulu market. Last month it began nonstop weekend service between Denver and Honolulu, with one flight on Saturdays and one flight on Sundays.

"I think the strategy is to continue to support and show confidence in the Hawai'i market in total, and not just the Neighbor Islands," he said. "That includes Honolulu as well. ... I don't want people to think we're just going to the Neighbor Islands and excluding Honolulu, because we're not."

United will operate a 182-seat Boeing 757 on the new San Francisco-Kona route, Renville said. The flight departs from San Francisco at 4:30 p.m., arriving in Kona at 6:46 p.m, he said. The return flight departs from Kona at 9:45 p.m. and arrives in San Francisco at 5:35 a.m.