Southwest has its sights on inter-island Hawaii flights

Southwest Airlines intends to offer island-hopping flights within Hawaii after it ramps up service to the state from California, boosting the competitive threat to Hawaiian Airlines. Inter-island flights will “eventually” be added to complement new service from the US mainland, Southwest said Thursday. The carrier named San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento and Oakland as the first California cities that will get nonstop flights to Hawaii. The lucrative inter-island market is a mainstay for Hawaiian, which derives about 94% of its in-state revenue from the 5 largest routes in that network. Encroachment on those flights by Southwest would be “a fairly significant headwind for Hawaiian,” one analyst said. Hawaiian said it’s ready for the challenge, citing its 170 daily flights between islands. <br/>