An airline CEO believes international travel to Hawaii should be “more normal” by this summer.
During a livestreamed interview Monday, Hawaiian Airlines CEO Peter Ingram said that with the omicron surge in the rearview mirror and COVID restrictions lifting, international travel should be able to resume safely within a few months.
“Japan and South Korea, they still have some quarantine rules in effect,” Ingram said. “That always has an impact on demand … but I’m hopeful that we’re going to see some adjustment in those policies as we go forward.”
Ingram said Hawaiian Airlines already resumed flights to and from Australia in December.
“What we’re planning for is that we’ll be ramping up our schedule throughout the second quarter and be to a more normal international schedule as we get into the summer and beyond,” Ingram went on.
With the state’s Safe Travels program set to end on March 25, Ingram said that the less cumbersome process for arriving travelers likely will bring back a prepandemic demographic mix of visitors. While last year, arrivals in Hawaii skewed younger, especially before vaccines were available, Ingram said he’s expecting an increase in returning visitors, older visitors and families.
“Of course, the piece that’s missing is the million-and-a-half visitors that come here every year from Japan,” Ingram said.
A first-quarter economic analysis by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization released Saturday predicted that East Asian travel markets are expected to make little to no recovery before the year’s second quarter.
Although Japan at the beginning of this month reduced its quarantine requirements for returning residents, South Korea is only now seeing its own omicron surge, which likely will stall its travel reopening plans until case numbers drop.
But, Ingram said Hawaiian Airlines is prepared for the eventual influx of Japanese travelers when they come, and is actively ramping up its hiring processes.
In addition, Ingram announced a series of new Hawaiian Airlines flights to be introduced in the summer, including direct flights between Kailua-Kona and Oakland, Calif., and a second flight between Honolulu and San Francisco.
The UHERO report predicted that, by the year’s end, total visitor arrivals statewide will reach more than 8.7 million, 90% of their pre-pandemic level. Next year, it estimated that 9.5 million will visit in 2023.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.