China Eastern Opens Bookings for Honolulu Charter Link

Posted 15/07/2011

China Eastern Airlines has finally opened reservations for its new twice weekly scheduled charter between Shanghai Pu Dong and Honolulu, two months after it revealed plans to introduce the new service.  The carrier will use an Airbus A340-300 on the flights which will operate for a limited schedule between August 9 and October 29 only.

The HUB reported earlier this year that the Hawaiian Tourist Authority (HTA) was working with the operator to introduce the flights after it operated three successful flights across an eleven day period at the start of the year.  China Eastern subsequently made all the necessary applications to the US Department of Transportation for approval to launch this extended schedule. 

According to the HTA the new service is projected to bring as many as 82,000 Chinese visitors to the islands, an increase of 24 per cent compared with last year.  This will generate significant economic benefits for Hawai'i, according to the HTA with a predicted average spend of $368 per day, bringing the anticipated overall annual visitor spend above $60 million and stimulating the market.  The three earlier flights from China Eastern in late January / early February generated an estimated $1.7 million in direct visitor expenditure, according to the HTA.

The flights are currently only available until October 29, but the HTA reports that they will continue through to January 2012 with a total of 50 return services due to operate.

"This new route creates ease and availability for those who travel between Hawai'i and China," the HTA said in a statement.  "Prior to this, travelers from China were routed through Korea or Japan.  The HTA is committed to increasing airlift to and from China in collaboration with Hawai'i Tourism China and Hawai'i's visitor industry to ensure the long-term success and continuation of the new route."

Schedule:

MU571 PVG1800 – 0950HNL 343 25
MU572 HNL1150 – 1640+1PVG 343 25

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PLEASE NOTE: From March 7, 2012 schedule data for all news stories has been extracted from OAG Schedules iNET; All GDS data is based on a live GDS update on the day of publication; Traffic data extracted from IATA BSP system for the year ending December 2011.  All information is subject to change.