Hawaiian Airlines has received tentative approval from the US department of transportation to shift its current daily flight between Honolulu and Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport into a coveted daytime schedule.

The new flights will begin on October 29th, 2016.

The tentative award follows a DOT ruling in May granting Hawaiian a night-time slot pair to provide daily service between Haneda and Kona three times weekly and Haneda and Honolulu four times weekly.

That service will launch on December 20th, 2016, giving Hawaiian Airlines two daily flights between Haneda and the Hawaiian Islands.

“We commend the US DOT for recognising both the success of our existing Haneda service and the immense value that Hawaiian provides to travellers and to our state’s economy,” said Mark Dunkerley, president and chief executive officer of Hawaiian Airlines.

“We believe that allowing us to arrive and depart earlier in the day will enhance our already popular Honolulu route.

“Combined with the additional capacity between Honolulu and Kona we will be able to fulfil the demand for a Hawai’i vacation from travellers coming from Japan’s most populous city while giving back to our community and all local businesses through increased tourism to Hawai’i.”

Hawai’i's largest and longest serving carrier was among the first three US airlines granted authority to operate at Tokyo’s Haneda airport in 2010.

For the last six years Hawaiian has successfully provided its daily night-time service between Tokyo and Honolulu, flying more passengers out of Haneda than any other US carrier.

Its service to Honolulu has added at least $941 million to the US gross domestic product, generated $564 million in direct spending and led to the creation of 2,337 new jobs.