Hawaii is back on Toronto’s radar for the first time in more than 11 years.
Air Canada’s new leisure airline, Air Canada Rouge, said Tuesday it will begin nonstop twice-weekly service between Canada’s most populous city and Honolulu starting Nov. 26 using a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.
It will be the first time there has been service between Toronto and Honolulu since April 2003, when Air Canada operated five flights a week with a Boeing 767-300.
Air Canada Rouge, which made its debut July 1, was formed to help Air Canada compete in the growing leisure travel sector. Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Vacations comprise the Air Canada Leisure Group, a subsidiary of Air Canada. The Toronto-Honolulu flights will be Wednesdays and Sundays.
Toronto will join Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria as Canadian cities with nonstop service to Hawaii via Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and WestJet. During the peak winter travel season, Air Canada and WestJet are expected to operate 71 flights to Hawaii per week from the five Canadian cities.
"Hawaii has long been a very popular vacation destination for Canadians from coast to coast," said Benjamin Smith, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Air Canada.
Parent company Air Canada also will convert nonstop service from Vancouver to both Honolulu and Kahului to daily Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300 ER service effective Nov. 21 and Dec. 1, respectively.
The additional service to Hawaii will give a boost to the state’s tourism industry after overall arrivals fell 3.2 percent during the first quarter of this year. During that same three-month period, Canadian visitors to the islands rose 1.5 percent to 210,454 from 207,298 in the year-earlier period.
Separately, Atlanta-based Delta said Tuesday it will offer a daily nonstop flight between Seattle and Kahului beginning Dec. 20 using a Boeing 757-200 aircraft.
