What Happened To AirAsia X’s Honolulu Flights & Will The Airline Return To The US?

AirAsia X
, a sister company of Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia
, announced its plans to launch direct flights to Honolulu in February 2017. The carrier revealed that it would operate from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to Honolulu, Hawaii, via Osaka, Japan, four times per week. The

fifth-freedom flights
were scheduled to start on 28 June 2017.

Launch of the flights

The carrier announced these flights at approximately $727 (RM2,999) in its award-winning Premium Flatbed, and $218 (RM899) for a standard seat. These were among the lowest fares from Asia to Honolulu. The flights from Malaysia had a stopover in Japan on the way to Honolulu. As the Malaysia-Hawaii market was small, the carrier was expected to rely on Japan-Hawaii traffic.

Hawaii, which is nicknamed the Paradise of the Pacific, is a place that has been quite a popular holiday destination for the Japanese for a long time. A trip to Honolulu from Japan evoked a feeling of “iyashi”, reported CNN. Though the Japanese word “iyashi” could be translated in English as “healing” or “comfort,” the sense of freedom and relaxation associated with Honolulu isn’t rendered truly in these translations.

Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock

Honolulu is one of eight main island locations in the Pacific. It is located on Hawaii’s most populous island, O’ahu. Let’s look at the details of AirAsia X’s operations to and from Honolulu.

AirAsia X had secured the flights after two years of trying to get approval from the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA). When it had secured the FAA approval, the carrier became the ninth low-cost carrier from Asia-Pacific and second from Southeast Asia to get FAA approval, according to the Center for Aviation. AirAsia X Group CEO Datuk Kamarudin Meranun’s words after the flights were scheduled only demonstrated how buoyant about the start of services to Honolulu:

“This is the game-changing destination we have all been waiting for. By connecting Asean and North Asia to the US with our world-class low fares offering, we will make it possible for those who could only dream of a vacation across the Pacific to take that trip.”

Photo: James Chutimeth | Shutterstock

AirAsia X’s first flight to Honolulu had a load factor of 90%. To mark this historic flight, a celebration and press conference were held at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The flight was completed a week after the carrier had been “named the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline for the ninth straight years,” reported the New Straits Times.

Around two years later, the pandemic struck

The low fares offered by AirAsia X for the flights were available for travel between 1 October 2017 and 28 August 2018. In February 2019, ch-aviation quoted the CEO of AirAsia X, Benjamin Ismail, as saying that the Kansai–Hawaii flights were a great success. Back then, four carriers were operating between Kansai and Honolulu.

AirAsia X, which currently has a fleet of fifteen Airbus A330-300
(according to data from planespotters.net), was also wondering if it would operate to other parts of the US from Osaka with an Airbus A330neo, as the A330-300 it had back then couldn’t make it to San Francisco or Los Angeles.

Photo: Alphonsusjimos | Shutterstock

However, approximately a year later, COVID-19 struck the world and the aviation industry. Travel restrictions followed, and the pandemic forced airlines to stop operations between various cities and nations. This was true for AirAsia X’s operations between Malaysia and Honolulu.

AirAsia X’s flights to Honolulu bounced back in 2022, but…

On June 15, 2022, AirAsia X announced the launch of its route to Hawaii after the pandemic. Malay Mail reported that the carrier’s flights to Honolulu, along with flights from Kuala Lumpur to several places in Japan, such as:

These flights, along with the one from KIX to HNL, were on sale on the day they were announced. AAX’s chief executive officer, Benjamin Ismail, talked to the press about how the airline was confident in jumping to the pre-pandemic numbers:

“We are back, better and stronger than ever. We have spent the downtime in flying reviewing every aspect of the operation to deliver even greater value and choice for medium and long-haul travel. Today’s announcement of the resumption is just the beginning.”

However, a year after the flights resumed, the carrier had to cut down on this route. While the carrier had plans of resuming flights in July 2023, this was later scheduled for September 2023, reported aeroroutes.com. A week prior to the end of July 2023, the same publication reported the removal of AirAsia’s schedule:

“AirAsia X in late-June 2023 filed schedule changes for Northern winter 2023/24 season, which saw the removal of Kuala Lumpur – Osaka Kansai – Honolulu routing. Reservation for Honolulu was only available for reservation in the highest fare category, prior to schedule removal.”

But AirAisa is expected to return to flights in the US in 2025

Around the beginning of 2022, AirAsia announced that AirAsia Group would be called Capital A. Earlier this year, ch-aviation reported that Tony Fernandes, the CEO of Capital A, was looking to use Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport
as a hub for flights to the US.

However, KUL isn’t the only airport on Fernandez’s radar. He also expects to use the Philippine capital and Thailand’s Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport
(BKK) as hubs for international flights. As Capital A encompasses the following:

• AirAsia
• AirAsia X
• Indonesia AirAsia
• Indonesia AirAsia X
• Thai AirAsia
• Philippines AirAsia

..,,it isn’t quite clear which of these carriers will be operating to Honolulu. It also isn’t clear if Honolulu is on Capital A’s radar. Business.inquirer.net quoted Tony Fernandes as having said:

“Manila will be a very good hub into America… With Thailand, Jakarta and Manila and Kuala Lumpur, we can cover the world…”

For now, we can only wait and see if AirAsia X confirms whether it will be operating only on the US mainland or Hawaii.