Low-cost airline to pull all Hawaii flights amid low demand

The budget carrier will run its last flight to Honolulu in October 2025.

May 12, 2025 - 18:25

Low-cost airline to pull all Hawaii flights amid low demand

Sitting in the Pacific Ocean at approximately 2,340 miles from the U.S. mainland, Hawaii has for decades been popular not just among West Coast Americans and Canadians, but also tourists from Japan and Australia.

The sandy beaches and tropical climate make it a natural destination for winter holidays, while its location makes it an easier flight than other parts of the U.S. Numbers from the local business and tourism board show that in December 2024 alone, the five main islands making up Hawaii saw 910,055 visitors who brought in $2.04 billion in tourist dollars.

Throughout the year, different airlines ran an average of eight direct routes between Honolulu and the Australian capital of Sydney per week, while there were at least 24 routes flying between Japan and the different Hawaiian islands on any given week. West Coast Canadian cities like Vancouver and Calgary are also a significant source of Hawaii-bound traffic.

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Jetstar to cut flight to Honolulu, exit U.S. entirely

Those frequencies, however, have been on the decline since the Trump administration took over the White House in January.

While Canadian tourism saw a particularly steep dropoff after Trump repeatedly called the country a "51st state" last winter, travelers from other countries have also been increasingly holding off on going to the U.S. amid the current administration's antagonism toward their nations and general anti-immigration stance. A report from Tourism Economics predicts that international travel to the U.S. will fall by 15.2% once 2025 ends.

In one more sign of waning tourist interest in the U.S., Qantas Airways (QABSY) subsidiary Jetstar announced that it would suspend its route between Sydney and Honolulu in October 2025.

With the Australian low-cost airline already ending its service to the city from Melbourne in April, Jetstar will now no longer fly to the U.S. at all. Launched in 2003 to counteract the then-growing Virgin Blue, Jetstar is the main budget airline used by Australians — along with flights within the large country, it flies to nearby international destinations such as New Zealand, Fiji, Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia.

The Sydney-Honolulu route was launched in 2006 and was the carrier's second international destination after an earlier expansion to Bangkok.

Jetstar Airways is the budget offshoot of Qantas.
Image source: Shutterstock

Boeing 787 plane to be 'redeployed' to most popular Asia routes, spokesperson says

At its peak in 2016, Jetstar ran flights to Honolulu from Sydney, Melbourne, and the Queensland capital of Brisbane.

"This network change will free up our Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft (BA) to be redeployed to some of our most popular long-haul routes in Asia with plans currently being finalised," a Jetstar spokesperson told Australian Frequent Flyer.

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Several Jetstar travelers told Australian outlets that the lower demand also comes at a period when the U.S. dollar is high and cheap routes are no longer attractive, given the high cost of accommodation and entertainment once they get to Hawaii.

"Certainly interesting watching this market shift over time, likely hard now offering a low-cost carrier product to what is a now a very high-cost destination," one Australian Frequent Flyer commenter wrote underneath the post about the cut route. "I remember the old days flying on the return for free sales on the Airbus A330 (EADSF) Brisbane to Honolulu was one we did."