Officials at North American Airlines, Oakland’s newest low-cost carrier, announced they would begin flying direct to Kona and Lihu‘e Airport from Oakland International Airport in the San Francisco Bay Area on April 3 and 8, respectively. The new routes are
Officials at North American Airlines, Oakland’s newest low-cost carrier, announced they would begin flying direct to Kona and Lihu‘e Airport from Oakland International Airport in the San Francisco Bay Area on April 3 and 8, respectively.
The new routes are part of North American Airlines officials’ plans to become the Bay Area’s preferred airline servicing the Hawaiian islands, they said.
Last November, NAA leaders began flying scheduled flights from Oakland to Honolulu and Maui, with promotional fares of $99 each way. With six weekly flights to the Hawaiian islands already, this new service brings the service to nine flights a week.
Flights to and from Lihu‘e Airport on Kaua‘i are scheduled each Friday. Flights to and from Kona are scheduled each Sunday.
“Visits to the Big Island and Kaua‘i account for more than 30 percent of domestic visitors to Hawai‘i,” noted Peter Bogovich, NAA’s vice president of sales. “We are very pleased to be able to serve these four islands now, making Hawai‘i even more affordable and accessible to the Bay Area and beyond.”
NAA leaders feel they have positioned themselves in the Bay Area as the airline with “high standards and low fares,” he said.
With leather seats, hot meals, generous leg room, and personal digital movie players (digEplayers) available, the air-line distinguishes itself as one of the few carriers to still give all passengers full service. The fares to Hawai‘i are consistently among the lowest, according to Expedia, the online booking service.
A recent search of flights from Oakland to Maui resulted in a 40 percent lower fare on North American than any other carrier. The new service to Kona and Kaua‘i is approximately 30 percent lower than any other carrier. For example, a roundtrip flight between Oakland and Kona in April would cost $440 roundtrip; on the next cheapest carrier (Aloha Airlines, which has filed for bankruptcy), the fare is $627. United Airlines offers a fare of $818 for the same flight.
Tickets are available through local travel agents, on the Internet at such locations as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity, as well as the North American Airlines Web site, www.northamericanair.com.
Founded in 1989 by Dan McKinnon, former chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, NAA is a fully certificated U.S. flag airline with worldwide scheduled service authority. In addition to scheduled service to Hawai‘i, NAA continues to operate scheduled flights from its corporate headquarters at JFK International Airport in New York to the Caribbean.