Now that it's officially part of the Alaska Airlines group, Hawaiian Airlines unveiled some big plans on Monday, including a truly fancy new lounge in Honolulu (HNL) and refurbishing all its old Airbus A330s to include first class suites and even a premium economy cabin.
While many of the improvements have a long runway – a much-needed makeover for Hawaiian's A330 fleet won't even start until sometime in 2028 – it's a big investment. And it follows through on a promise from Alaska to uphold the beloved Hawaiian Airlines brand after its acquisition last year.
In addition to the splashy announcements about the planes and airports, Hawaiian added that it'll update its app to mirror Alaska's, allowing travelers to more easily book flights on partner airlines, change flights, and more.
New A330 Suites
Refurbishments of the aging A330 aircraft in Hawaiian's fleet won't begin until 2028. But once they do, the front of the plane should be extraordinarily comfortable.
The current 2-2-2 lie-flat first class seats currently on Hawaiian's A330 planes is downright prehistoric. But the Leihōkū Suites on the airline's newest Boeing 787 Dreamliners are the single best way to fly to Hawaii … or to Japan, Korea, London, or Rome starting this summer, for that matter. It's a massive upgrade.
Read next: Our Review of the Hawaiian 787 Suites
Hawaiian didn't say that its A330s would be getting these exact same first class suites … but that's a fairly safe bet – or something close to it. These are the planes you'll be most likely to see flying between the mainland and Hawaii, while 787s begin flying for Alaska further across the Pacific or over to Europe.
Tucked later on in that announcement, Hawaiian said it will also be adding Premium Economy seats to its A330s. Premium economy – usually including wider seats, better recline, and extra legroom as well as better food and drink service than economy – is ideally suited for the long-but-not-that-long flights to Hawaii and back.
A New HNL Lounge & Other Airport Renovations
The investments going into Hawaii's four major airports will include important, practical considerations like lobby renovations and gate area overhauls. But the sexiest part of the announcement was a brand new – and much-needed – lounge at Honolulu (HNL) airport.
The airline said renovations are starting now and will go through 2029, so sometime in that timeframe (maybe), Hawaiian will open the Mauka Lounge: a 10,000-square-foot space in Terminal 1.
Currently, Hawaiian operates Premier Clubs in all four major Hawaiian airports, but they're fairly lackluster spaces. This new lounge but this space will likely be a step up as Hawaiian needs to compete with Southwest Airlines, which has also proposed opening its own lounge at HNL.
Bottom Line
Hawaiian Airlines announced some big investments into its wide-body airplanes and its airports – including a splashy new lounge for its Honolulu (HNL) hub.
The timeline to get these improvements done, however, is long, with airplane refurbishments promised starting in 2028 and airport enhancements starting now and running through 2029.
