Summary
- JetStar leads the three operating airlines with the highest total seat capacity between Hawaii and Australia.
- Qantas follows with the second most seats.
- Hawaiian Airlines has fewer seats on its Hawaii-Australia routes.
Hawaii to Australia is a relatively well-trafficked route. In December 204, three airlines operated a total of 141 flights (in both directions). JetStar offers the most seats, with its two routes from Honolulu to Sydney and to Melbourne. Hawaiian Airlines and Qantas offer fewer, with flights only to Sydney.
Interestingly, routes are not operated by any of the three largest US legacy airlines (American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines). They all operate flights to Australia from other US hubs.
All data in this article is from Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
JetStar – Top place for seats
The low-cost carrier offers 16,080 seats in December 2024 and operates two different routes
|
Route |
Operating aircraft type |
Total flights |
Total seats |
Total Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Honolulu (HNL) to Sydney (SYD) |
Boeing 787-8 |
15 |
5,025 |
25,456,650 |
|
Sydney (SYD) to Honolulu (HNL) |
Boeing 787-8 |
9 |
3,015 |
16,594,560 |
|
Honolulu (HNL) to Melbourne (MEL) |
Boeing 787-8 |
15 |
5,025 |
25,456,650 |
|
Melbourne (MEL) to Honolulu (HNL) |
Boeing 787-8 |
9 |
3,015 |
16,594,560 |
Note that all flight and seat data in this article is based on total flights in both directions for December 2024, with all data sourced from Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
Qantas’ subsidiary airline, JetStar, offers low-cost flights from Honolulu to Sydney and to Melbourne. It is the only airline currently operating to any city other than Sydney. Its route to Melbourne is the longest direct flight operating from HNL.
Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock
JetStar has traditionally targeted the holiday and leisure markets. It does not serve the US mainland. All Hawaii flights are operated with the Boeing 787-8.
In December, it has the following flights scheduled:
- HNL to SYD. Flight JQ4 operates three times a week – on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, with 08:15 departure.
- SYD to HNL. Flight JQ3 operates three times a week – on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, with 17:25 departure.
- HNL to MEL Flight JQ2 operates two times a week – on Wednesday and Sunday, with 08:15 departure.
- MEL to HNL. Flight JQ1 operates two times a week – on Wednesday and Sunday, with 16:50 departure.
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JetStar generally offers the lowest prices on the routes. A sample search for early December 2024 shows JetStar offering one-way HNL to SYD fares as low as $263 – with Hawaiian and Qantas charging around $900 to $1100. As you would expect, fares rise higher later in the month, but JetStar is still competitively the lowest.
Qantas
The Australia-based carrier takes second place with 12,654 seats and only operates to Sydney.
|
Route |
Operating aircraft type |
Total flights |
Total seats |
Total Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Honolulu (HNL) to Sydney (SYD) |
Airbus A330-300 |
7 |
2,079 |
10,532, 214 |
|
Honolulu (HNL) to Sydney (SYD) |
Boeing 787-9 |
18 |
4,248 |
21,520,368 |
|
Sydney (SYD) to Honolulu (HNL) |
Airbus A330-300 |
7 |
2,079 |
10,532, 214 |
|
Sydney (SYD) to Honolulu (HNL) |
Boeing 787-9 |
18 |
4,248 |
21,520,368 |
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying
Qantas
and Hawaiian Airlines are closely matched for number of seats offered. The Australian carrier just edges ahead due to its greater frequency. It operates 24 round trips over the month. These flights are operated by two of Qantas’s four widebody types in the fleet. Most are with the newest Boeing 787-9
aircraft, with less than a third using the Airbus A330-300 (the A330-200 and the A380 are the two types not used).
Qantas’ flights are scheduled as follows:
- HNL to SYD. Flight QF104 operates five times a week – on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with 11:00 departure.
- SYD to HNL. Flight QF103 operates five times a week – on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with 20:35 departure.
Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines comes in close behind Qantas, with 11,954 seats
|
Route |
Operating aircraft type |
Total flights |
Total seats |
Total Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Honolulu (HNL) to Sydney (SYD) |
Airbus A330-200 |
21 |
5,838 |
29,595,308 |
|
Honolulu (HNL) to Sydney (SYD) |
Airbus A330-200 |
22 |
6,116 |
30,983,656 |
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Hawaiian Airlines
offers fewer departures than Qantas on the HNL to SYD routes, but it operates these with higher-capacity aircraft. Hawaiian operates all flights with the Airbus A330-200
. This is configured for 278 passengers. This compares with 236 (in three cabins) for Qantas with its Boeing 787-9.
Using the A330-200 is not really a surprise – the airline has 22 of these active in the fleet and only two Boeing 787-9 aircraft so far (with ten more on order).
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Hawaiian Airlines operates the following schedule, all with the A330-220:
- HNL to SYD. Flight HA451 operates five times a week – on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with 11:55 departure.
- SYD to HNL. Flight HA452 operates five times a week – on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with 21:40 departure.
Hawaiian Airlines was previously in a much stronger position for Australian routes. Before the pandemic, the airline also served Brisbane from Honolulu. It was announced in 2022, though, that this route would not resume. Sydney flights were also out of service during the pandemic, and these restarted in December 2021.
Related
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Things could change again for Hawaiian with its merger with Alaska Airlines. Although this does not immediately affect these routes, its membership of the oneworld alliance could do. New connection options will be available, and, of course, Qantas is also an alliance member.
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