Hawaiian Airlines carried an all-time high of
11,840,178 passengers in 2018 amid a fleet expansion that helped generate a seventh straight year of record visitor
arrivals to the state.
The state’s largest carrier, which reported its full-year
passenger data Thursday, also said in the same report that
it is narrowing its loss estimate for fourth-quarter operating revenue per available seat mile to the positive end of its prior guidance range due primarily to better-than-expected yields on its international routes and slightly better-than-
expected holiday traffic on its North America routes. The company now expects its operating revenue per ASM to be down 3 to 4 percent compared with down 3 to 5 percent in its previous guidance.
Hawaiian’s passenger traffic last year rose 2.9 percent from 11,505,324 in 2017 as the airline took delivery of nine A321neo aircraft during 2018 to bring the size of its A321neo fleet to 11 aircraft.
The A321neo is being used to help Hawaiian expand its West Coast market, including new daily nonstop service to Kahului Airport from Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; and San Diego international airports, as well as to Honolulu from Long Beach, Calif. The airline also will begin new five-times-a-week nonstop service to Honolulu from Boston’s Logan International Airport on April 4.
For the year, the airline’s revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, rose 5.5 percent to 17.21 billion, and its available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, increased 6.1 percent to 20.17 billion. Its load factor, or the percentage of seats filled, slipped 0.5 percentage points to 85.3 from 85.8 percent.
In December, Hawaiian’s passenger traffic dipped 1.9 percent to 981,571 from 1,000,646, and its load factor dipped
0.4 percentage points to 84 percent from 84.4 percent. Its revenue passenger miles rose 5.1 percent to 1.46 billion, and its available seat miles increased 5.6 percent to 1.74 billion.
Hawaiian, which made the announcement after the market closed, saw its shares rise 10 cents to $29.50 during the regular trading session and bring its gain to 11.7 percent since the start of the year.
The company is expected to report its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings later this month.