The move is a sign of optimism that an anticipated rebound in travel this summer could carry over into the winter months. Through April visitor arrivals were up 1.5 percent from last year. For that period domestic arrivals were up 3.4 percent and international arrivals were down 2.7 percent.

Along with the new flight Delta said it is offering an introductory round-trip fare of $549, though several restrictions apply.

The added service follows Delta's May announcement of plans to reinstate a nonstop flight from Honolulu to its Atlanta home base and announcements from other airlines including Continental and Aloha of added Mainland flights.

There's also hope of a rebound in Japanese travel following an announcement this month that Japan Air Lines will add more daily flights from Japan to Honolulu this summer. This market was hit particularly hard by concerns about the war in Iraq and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.