Hawaiian Airlines and Korean Air have signed an expanded codeshare agreement that will allow Hawaiian to offer its customers nonstop service between Hawaii and Korea, as well as connecting service on flights within Korea and five other destinations in Asia.The carriers plan to begin expanded codeshare operations June 15, 2009, with Hawaiian placing its “HA” booking code on flights operated by Korean between Incheon, South Korea and Honolulu, and on flights between Incheon and Busan in Korea as well as points in Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian, said, “This new agreement is all part of increasing Hawaiian’s presence in Asia, expanding our relationship with Korean Airlines, and could lead to complementary service by Hawaiian in the future.

“With its recent addition to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, we expect to see a letting of significant pent-up demand in South Korea for travel to the U.S. and Hawaii in particular. Incheon is the largest air travel hub in Northeast Asia, so in combination with our own nonstop service to Manila, Hawaiian will soon be able to offer our customers convenient gateways to all of Asia.

“In addition, with more than two million ethnic Koreans in the U.S. and significant Korean communities in all of the cities we serve, we think this new service will have great appeal to travelers in our markets,” Dunkerley said.

Hawaiian and Korean have jointly applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation for authorization to begin codeshare operations next month.

The two carriers began their codesharing relationship in 2007, which allowed Korean to put its “KE” booking code on Hawaiian’s flights among the islands of Hawaii and between Hawaii and the mainland U.S.
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