The new non-stop service between Honolulu and Auckland will fly three times a week from March 2013.

Hawaiian will be the only US carrier flying into Auckland.

The airline’s own research found that Hawaii was an underserved market for New Zealand.

Visitor numbers from New Zealand are down 30% on 1999 when more non-stop flights were on offer between the two destinations.

The new service will add more than 40,000 seats annually between Auckland and Hawaii and will go head-to-head with Air New Zealand’s own Auckland–Honolulu route.

Air New Zealand cancelled a planned fourth weekly frequency on Auckland–Honolulu service, which was due to start this November.

But the airline will still operate the route three times a week, an overall increase from twice weekly, last winter.

Hawaiian will operate the flights using its fleet of wide body, twin-aisle B767-300ER aircraft.

Auckland will be the eighth new destination Hawaiian has announced since November 2010, following Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Sapporo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; New York City, USA; and Brisbane, Australia.

Travellers from New Zealand will have the option to make connections with Hawaiian from Honolulu to a choice of 11 mainland US destinations – Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, San Diego and Phoenix. 

Hawaiian carries eight million customers a year and serves 20 domestic and international destinations in the Pacific region.