Low-cost carrier America West Airlines will begin operating direct flights to Hawai'i in December, bringing new competition to Hawai'i's already crowded skies.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline — which operated daily flights to Hawai'i from 1989 to 1993 — said yesterday it will resume its Hawai'i service on Dec. 16 with two daily, round-trip flights from Phoenix to Ho-nolulu and Phoenix to Kahului, Maui.

The airline, which is merging with US Airways, said it will operate as many as 35 weekly flights to Hawai'i from Phoenix and Las Vegas by March 2.

"This is good news for fares from the West Coast to Hawai'i," said Rachel Shimamoto, vice president of Travel Ways Inc., a local travel agency. "The carriers know they have to sharpen their pencils to remain competitive."

Shimamoto said that an airline typically will enter a market by slashing fares to get attention from local consumers. Over the longer term, the additional capacity will keep ticket prices for Mainland flights competitive, she said.

The move comes as many of the nation's largest airlines are stepping up service to Hawai'i during the busy summer.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism is projecting that for the three months ending Aug. 30, 2005, the number of passenger seats on flights from the West Coast to Honolulu will increase by 17 percent from the year-earlier period.

The increased passenger capacity is more than the industry has seen in recent years.

"There's been a flood of new capacity in the market and this is the latest addition to that," Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner said.

America West's entry likely will have the biggest impact on Hawaiian Airlines, the state's largest carrier.

America West has been a code-sharing partner with Hawaiian Airlines since 2002, and its Phoenix-to-Honolulu daily service will compete with Hawaiian's direct flight to the Arizona capital.

In March, America West will add a second daily flight from Phoenix to Honolulu. That flight will be in addition to daily flights between Las Vegas and Kahului, four weekly roundtrips between Phoenix and Lihu'e, and three weekly flights between Phoenix and Kona.

Round-trip fares for the Ho-nolulu-to-Phoenix flights will begin at $506 while ticket prices for the Phoenix-to-Kahului flights will start at $566, according to Phil Gee, America West spokesman.

Wagner said that Hawaiian Airlines will remain competitive in markets in which it competes against America West.

The new routes — which will use 190-seat Boeing 757-200 jets — will not compete directly with Aloha Airlines, which flies from Hawai'i to Las Vegas and Reno in Nevada, and San Diego, Orange County, Sacramento and Oakland in California, Aloha spokesman Stu Glauberman had no immediate comment.

America West — the latest airline to enter the Hawai'i market since Canada-based Harmony Airways and North American Airlines of Oakland began flying to Honolulu last year — has been ramping up for its Hawai'i routes since last month when it began training crews for overseas flights.

America West previously operated direct flights from Phoenix and Las Vegas to Honolulu from 1989 to 1993 using the larger 747 jets. The airline was forced to halt its service after it filed for bankruptcy protection in 1991.

In 1994, the airline hired longtime Aloha Airlines Chief Executive Officer A. Maurice Myers as its president and CEO, who led the company out of bankruptcy protection. Myers left America West in 1996.

America West, now the nation's eighth-largest airline, announced in May that it was merging with US Airways in a deal expected to be completed in September.