Hawaiian Airlines’ Honolulu hub shrinks as it drops Seoul, Fukoka and America’s longest domestic route
August 13, 2025
Hawaiian Airlines is undertaking a network adjustment which will see it dropping three long-haul routes from November 2025.
Confirmed by AeroRoutes earlier today, the adjustments will see the airline cancel its five-times-a-week service to Seoul Incheon, as well as its thrice-weekly route to Fukuoka from 21 November.
On 22 November, the Honolulu to Boston service will cease. At 5,095 miles, it’s the longest domestic route in the US.
The airline, which was acquired by Alaska Airlines, first launched its Boston service in 2019. Hawaiian operates the Honolulu-Boston service with its Airbus A330-200 aircraft, accommodating up to 278 passengers per flight.
Hawaiian’s announcement comes only a few months after Delta Air Lines cancelled its short-lived seasonal service between Honolulu and Boston.
Hawaiian Airlines drops “underperforming” routes and redirects capacity
The cancellation is part of a network adjustment that includes two Asian routes pulled from Hawaiian’s schedule and increases to other services beginning in November. Also on the chopping block in Honolulu are the airline’s 5x weekly service to Incheon, South Korea, and its 3x weekly service to Fukuoka, Japan.
In its announcement, the airline described the suspended routes as “underperforming.”
Hawaiian will operate its last flights from Fukuoka and Boston to Honolulu on November 19, and from Incheon to Honolulu on November 21. The airline will offer passengers who have already booked flights past the route cancellation date other flight options or a refund.
The airline will redeploy aircraft to increase flights between Honolulu and Sydney, Australia, Papeete, Tahiti, Los Angeles and Seattle, and to support its Hawai‘i network.
- Honolulu-Sydney service will increase to daily flights—up from five weekly flights—from December 18 through January 31.
- Honolulu-Papeete will see two weekly flights—up from one weekly flight—starting in March.
- Honolulu-Los Angeles will get a fifth daily flight in peak seasons. The extra service runs from November 21 to December 1, and from December 19 to January 6.
- Honolulu-Seattle will get a fourth daily flight from late November to mid-April.
“It’s always a difficult decision to suspend a route, especially in cities like Seoul, which we have enjoyed serving for over 14 years. However, despite our team’s best efforts, soft post-pandemic travel demand from Asia, combined with various market challenges, have persisted in Seoul, as well as in Fukuoka and Boston, both of which we entered in 2019,” said Hawaiian Airlines CEO Joe Sprague.
“We remain committed to continuing to provide robust Hawaiian Airlines service between Asia and Hawai‘i through our nonstop Japan flights, and via one-stop connections to and from Incheon and beyond with our global partner airlines,” Sprague added. “These adjustments will ensure we are meeting strong demand for travel to Hawaiʻi – both internationally and domestically – while providing all our guests access to more destinations.”
From the longest domestic route in the US to a one-stop connection
Hawaiian Airlines was quick to point out that its customers can still fly to the cancelled destinations through a one-stop connection via Alaska Airlines and its partners.
“Guests can continue to fly between Hawai‘i and Incheon or Fukuoka via one-stop itineraries through Hawaiian’s other Japan destinations, including twice-daily Honolulu-Haneda and daily Osaka services, and partner carriers, including oneworld alliance members,” the airline stated.
The airline noted that, from 12 September, new nonstop service from Seattle to Seoul would launch with a five-times-a-week frequency, encouraging connecting flights via Sea-Tac.
“Between Honolulu and Boston, guests can connect daily on Alaska Airlines’ flights via Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and San Diego,” Hawaiian added.
Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines combined offer over 200 daily flights in Hawaii, including 140 inter-island flights and services to 22 domestic and international destinations. The airlines connect passengers to 131 cities in North and Central America through Alaska’s network.
Hawaiian operates 31 weekly nonstop flights between Honolulu and Tokyo and Osaka in Japan; Sydney, Australia; Tahiti, American Samoa, and the Cook Islands. It also operates seasonal service to Auckland, New Zealand.
In June, Alaska Airlines announced it would launch nonstop service between Seattle and Rome, London and Iceland starting next spring. These flights will have one-stop connections to and from Hawaii.
Delta Air Lines cancelled its seasonal Boston-Honolulu service after finding it unprofitable
Delta Air Lines competed with Hawaiian on the Boston-Honolulu route as a seasonal route from November of last year to April of this year. Still, the airline ultimately cancelled the route, finding it unprofitable.
Delta Air Lines appears to be canceling its new Boston (BOS) to Honolulu (HNL) route. BOS-HNL was planned to suspend after April 30 and resume on November 20, but the resumption for next season has now been removed from sale. Hawaiian Airlines continues to serve this route.
— Ishrion Aviation (@ishrionaviation.bsky.social) 28 February 2025 at 06:33
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Delta operated most Honolulu-Boston flights on its Airbus A330-300, with a capacity for 282 passengers. Flight frequency varied from 20 flights in November 2024 to a peak of 56 flights in March. In April, it operated 25 flights on the A330 and 35 flights on the 216-seat Boeing 767-300.
