Hawaiian Airlines today filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation for approval to launch nonstop flights between Honolulu and Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport.

If approved, the new twice-daily service would start in late October, Hawaiian said in a news release.
The new route is in keeping with Hawaiian’s long-term vision to expand its service in Asia and create new economic and cultural opportunities for Hawaii, said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and chief executive officer.
Four pairs of daily takeoff and landing slots between the U.S. and Japan are being made available at Haneda, which until now has been mostly a domestic airport. The new slots were made available as part of a loosening of rules for flights to and from Japan under a so-called Open Skies accord to which the two countries agreed in December.
Hawaiian will be competing against several other U.S. carrier for the slots, including Delta Airlines, American Airlines, United AIrlines and Continental Airlines. Hawaiian is the only one of the group that currently doesn't serve Japan.