Do you think Hawaiian Airlines will push through to order the Airbus A220?

Hawaiian Airlines will need a new aircraft that’s an excellent replacement to the Boeing 717s which is associated with short-haul and intra-island destinations across Hawaii. The Boeing 717s will continue to be on the game and fly for a few more years, however, as early as now, the Hawaiian Airlines need to secure a replacement for this that will be used for the next couple of years. Let’s take a look if this airline company will choose to purchase Airbus 220.

To date, Hawaiian Airlines’ fleet is consisting of Boeing 717 that is used to fly to inter-island routes. This aircraft is specifically designed for short-haul routes only and so Hawaiian Airlines admired this model. Besides, there are only a few operators of the Boeing 717 if you’ll trace it globally. It has 20 Boeing 717 aircraft that has a capacity of 128 passengers in a two-class configuration set-up. Eight seats are can be found in the First-Class cabin in a 2-2 configuration. The economy class has 120 seats in a 2-3 configuration. The aircraft are aging and the company has decided to keep the type in operation for at least the next five years.

Currently, this airline company offers a host of intra-island route services by making use of both the Boeing 717 aircraft and turboprops. The in-demand routes from Honolulu make use of the Boeing 717s. The given aircraft model is ideal for short duration routes. Also, it is not as cramped as some other regional jets and at the same time not too huge for Hawaiian’s daily operations.

This airline company has two main options namely Airbus A220 or Embraer E2 series. Hawaiian is more likely to choose the E195-E2. However, the A220-300 has more seating capacity and can even maintain or surpass the Hawaiian’s current intra-island capacity. The A220-330 also has greater range if it were to be compared to the E195-E2. According to Airbus, the A220-300 has a range of up to 3,350nm. Currently, there are some Pacific Islands that Hawaiian does not fly out of Honolulu but when it takes on the A220, the company can now consider expanding.

Up to now, Hawaiian Airlines is still undecided on to which aircraft they will choose to replace the Boeing 717 towards the end of this decade. More likely, Airbus A220 will be their choice given the company’s current ties to Airbus.