Hawaiian Airlines touched down in Texas for the first time in April 2021, connecting Austin with the Aloha state. The new service offered fresh demand for the Honolulu-based airline as it looked to reallocate resources at a time when the demand for core markets such as Australia and Asia was heavily suppressed due to global Covid-19 restrictions.

Just a little less than two years later, the route continues to prove successful for Hawaiian Airlines. Within the first year of service, the airline increased its Austin frequency from two flights to three weekly trips. As demand continues to grow, Hawaiian recently announced a fourth weekly Austin flight on Sundays for summer 2023. The airline will ramp up flights just in time for Labor Day weekend with the fourth weekly frequency flying until Sept. 5. Flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

As Hawaiian grows in Austin, the airline will offer over 1,100 seats to Honolulu each week. This represents 12% of all seats between Texas and Hawaii each week this summer according to Cirium. Starting in May, flights will depart Honolulu at 6:45 p.m. and arrive in Austin the next morning at 7:35 a.m. local time. The carrier’s A330 will spend just two hours on the ground in Austin before departing at 9:35 a.m. and arriving in Honolulu at 12:45 p.m. local time.

The airline is re-timing its Austin flight times to improve aircraft utilization and offers additional inter-island and international connectivity to cities such as Auckland, Tokyo, and Pago Pago. Passengers can also take advantage of the airline’s new interline agreement with Southern Airways and Mokulele Airlines which expands passenger access to the islands of Moloka’i, Lāna’i, and Kapalua.

Flying the only Hawaiian Airlines flight to Texas

After a recent visit to Honolulu, I had a chance to try out Hawaiian’s service on its new Austin route. I began my journey back to Texas on a beautiful Monday morning at Honolulu Airport’s Terminal One. This terminal is exclusively used by Hawaiian Airlines and was not crowded at around 7:00 a.m.

There were plenty of self-check-in kiosks available and agents to assist with baggage drop off. With no bags to check, I headed straight to the TSA PreCheck lanes to clear security. With an average of 22,000 passengers traveling through the airport each day, Hawaiian Airlines recently spent $14 million on a new four-lane checkpoint at the makai end of Terminal 1. With no lines, I was able to breeze through security in less than five minutes.

Honolulu’s airport is an avgeek paradise. Terminals are connected to each other with open-air walkways that provide phenomenal views of the ramp activity. There is also an airside park located in Terminal 2 that makes a perfect hangout spot on a long layover.

My flight departed from the C gates which are used for U.S. mainland and international flights. Prior to entering the gate area, I had to go through the state’s agriculture inspection station. With no lines early in the morning, this took less than a minute to complete.

Boarding for flight HA82 to Austin began promptly at 9:15 a.m. Hawaiian’s long-haul fleet includes 24 A330-200s. Each aircraft features 278 seats, including 18 lie-flat seats in business class, 68 extra comfort economy seats, and 192 economy seats. The airline is currently awaiting delivery of 12 Boeing 787-9s, with the first aircraft expected later this year. Once in the fleet, the 787 will offer 89% more premium cabin seats compared to the A330 jets.

Each A330 in the fleet is named after Polynesian constellations that were used to navigate the Hawaiian islands. I was flying onboard N830HA, named “Makali’i,” after the Pleiades star group found within the constellation Taurus.

As I boarded, I made a right turn toward the Extra Comfort economy cabin. I was sitting in seat 20A, a window seat. Each Extra Comfort seat has an 18-inch width and a 36-inch pitch. The seats have five additional inches of legroom compared to the regular economy cabin. Each seat had a comfortable blanket available for use.

We pushed back right on time, lined up on Honolulu’s famous reef runway, and were airborne to Austin before 10:00 a.m. We were treated to beautiful views of O’ahu as we climbed towards 36,000 feet.

Once we began our Pacific crossing, flight attendants jumped to begin their service. The airline recently committed to replacing 50% of onboard single-use plastics by 2025 and plans to expand local sourcing of food and beverages to 40% for its Hawaii-based catering operations by 2025.

The service began with a drink service and snack mix accompaniment. This was immediately followed by breakfast which included scrambled eggs with mushrooms, marinara sauce, and tater tots. There was also fresh fruit and a sweet cookie. Interestingly, Hawaiian Airlines has committed to only using cage-free eggs on all flights departing Hawaii by 2025. The food quality seemed to be higher than the meal quality on a long-haul U.S. airline transatlantic flight.

Each seat offers an inflight entertainment screen with over 100 hours of movies and TV shows. Notably, over 30% of the content highlights the state of Hawaii, so there’s a lot to learn as well if you’re interested in the state’s history and culture. There’s also a USB charging port available on all seats. Economy Comfort seats also have a power outlet, offering an additional source of power to stay charged in flight.

While there are plenty of movies onboard to keep you entertained, Hawaiian does not offer wifi on any of its flights. This, however, is set to change later this year when the airline begins offering free Starlink wifi from SpaceX on its A321neo and A330 planes. The new 787s are also expected to offer new wifi.

About halfway through the flight, I walked to the back of the plane to purchase a snack from the buy-on-board menu. I bought an Island Princess snack box for $10 which featured a sweet assortment of nuts and chocolates.

The cabin crew created a welcoming atmosphere and were very hospitable. They came up and down the aisle throughout the flight offering water and other drinks to passengers.

There was yet another meal service one hour prior to landing in Austin. The flight attendants handed each passenger a snack bag with an egg salad sandwich, snack mix, and chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. Despite the dull look, the sandwich was delicious and a great touch. Many other U.S. airlines flying between the U.S. and Hawaii barely offer even one proper meal on flights over five hours.

We touched down in Austin at 8:40 p.m. local time after a very pleasant 3,762 mile journey from Honolulu. Within a few minutes, we had arrived at our gate and the journey came to a conclusion.

During a 2021 interview with AirlineGeeks, Peter Ingram, CEO of Hawaiian Airlines said, “Austin is a market that just keeps getting better and better in terms of the growth in the community. It really fits in the wheelhouse of what works for us in terms of a growing population with disposable income that is in an age demographic interested in traveling.”

Despite flying in February, my flight was over 80% full. The airline flew over 32,000 passengers on the Austin route in 2022, with the load factor averaging 88% during the peak summer season. Even though American and United offer daily one-stop connectivity to Hawaii from their Dallas and Houston hubs, Hawaiian has found success in Austin and continues to develop the route as demand grows each year. It’ll be exciting to see how the airline continues to grow in Texas and beyond over the next several years as it takes delivery of its forthcoming Dreamliner fleet.