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Michael James, Founder & CEO Air Australia Mike McCartney, Pres & CEO Hawaii Tourism Authority |
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Guests on Australia’s newest international airline, Air Australia, were welcomed on arrival at HNL in true Hawaiian-style with hula dancing girls and leis, heralding the start of non-stop flights from Brisbane and Melbourne to Honolulu. The young carrier is off to a promising start on the route, saying it has 92% load factors on its 229 pax Airbus A330-200s to Hawaii from now until Feb. Speaking to Travel Daily at a Luau Launch Party on Sat night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, founder and CEO Michael James says he’s not worried about competing against the more established carriers on the route. “We’ll stay focused on the leisure market and offer the cheapest ticket, best-fare-of-the-day and be seen as the price setter in the market.” “With 20% growth to Hawaii there’s sufficient demand for all on the route and as long as we keep our costs low and not operate ex-Sydney, we will be around for a very long time”. In fact the 34-year old ceo has ambitious expansion plans for the Brisbane-based airline with thrice weekly flights in the works for China and Vietnam by this coming Jun, and a long-held dream to fly to the US West Coast within the next three years. Air Australia’s fleet consists of just two A330s and three A320 aircraft but it will get another A330 by next Feb. While Air Australia flies only twice weekly to Hawaii from Brisbane and Melbourne, twice-daily on the BNE-MEL-BNE route and thrice weekly to Bali and Phuket, James said it’s his intention to operate daily on all of his routes eventually. James started helping his father load bags on planes at Bundaberg Airport in his early teens, later moving to Ansett, but lost his job there at age 21 when the airline went bust. But with a $20,000 loan six years ago he started Strategic Aviation Group, which has led to Air Australia. In the words of Mike McCartney, President of Hawaii Tourism Authority, he’s a new breed of aviation pioneer. |
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Richard Noon, Webjet Melbourne Kimberely Busteed, TV Presenter David Jackson, Travel Corp Sydney |
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