Salt Lake City is getting a new direct link to the Hawaiian islands: A roughly six-hour flight straight to, and from, Honolulu.
Hawaiian Airlines announced its newest direct flight offering — the airline’s 16th direct flight between Hawaii and the continental United States — on Wednesday. Flights between Salt Lake City and Honolulu will be airborne starting May 15.
“Connecting two really iconic destinations for people who love to be outdoors is particularly gratifying,” Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram said. “I think there’s a lot to offer on both ends of this route.”
The decision to make Salt Lake City the airline’s 16th “gateway city” was a fairly easy one, Ingram said. Utah and Hawaii are already bonded by a shared appreciation of the outdoors, as well as Brigham Young University’s Hawaii campus and a growing population of Pacific Islanders in Utah. Utah has one of the largest Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander populations in the country, according to the Gardner Institute.
“We think there’s a lot of demand for convenient service on a nonstop basis, and we’re happy to provide it,” Ingram said.
The new route comes during a moment of growth for Salt Lake City International Airport, which is on track to see a record number of passengers in 2023. The final phase of the airport’s expansion, which includes 16 new gates in concourse B, is expected to be done by late 2026.
“We are thrilled to welcome Hawaiian Airlines to Salt Lake City International,” Bill Wyatt, executive director of Salt Lake City International Airport, said in a news release. “Hawaii is not only a favorite destination for Utahns to vacation but is also a popular location for family members to visit.”
Delta Air Lines currently runs two direct flights between Hawaii and Salt Lake City, including one to Honolulu.
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