Shanghai to Hawaii flights cancelled

China Eastern Airlines has cancelled all flights between Shanghai and Hawaii until the end of October 2011, due to low demand.According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) a large percentage of all seats were being blocked by two large China travel operators.

However, the tour operators were unable to fill all the seats they blocked, citing slow USA visa processing as the reason, reported Khon2.“Demand from China to visit the Hawaiian Islands remains high, however obtaining visa’s to travel to the U.S. continues to be an obstacle,” a HTA spokesperson said.

Hawaii Chinese Travel Association Ted Sturdivant said for Hawaii to have direct flight from China is a “big deal”.“There’s a need or the market wouldn’t be growing, they spend a lot, they outspend the Japanese, and the Koreans, so once here, they’re a good tourist for us,” Mr Sturdivant said.

HTA will be discussing the visa process issues this week in China, exploring a future visa waiver similar to the one currently in place in Korea.HTA president Mike McCartney said China remains a vital market for Hawaii and the HTA will continue to work on this market.

The airline is currently planning to re-launch the flight at the end of this month and will upgrade the flight from a charter to a regular scheduled flight providing more seats for direct sales within their global network.

Source - etravelblackboardasia