Starting in May 2026, Alaska Airlines will start flights between Burbank and Honolulu. The route will be served by the airline’s Boeing 737 MAX fleet.
During the mid-2000s, Southern California travelers and Hawaiian residents were blessed with convenient service between Honolulu and Burbank, California. The route was short-lived, disappearing after Aloha Airlines underwent restructuring.
Fast forward to October 2025, about 20 years later Alaska Airlines is bringing this route pairing back to life.
This new route pairing was part of a 13 route expansion recently announced by the airline. The rapidly growing Alaska Airlines will be launching nonstop seasonal service between Hollywood Burbank Airport and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu. The service will begin on May 13th, 2026, and will be flown using Alaska’s Boeing 737 MAX fleet.
The real winners are West Coast travelers. Burbank is going through a renaissance as an airport. New infrastructure is making it a very attractive alternative to the congestion and costs of flying from LAX. Allegiant Air recently shifted its LAX operations to Burbank which supports the airport’s growing appeal.
The shift of focus to Burbank from Los Angeles can come with real cost savings for passengers. Burbank’s lower operation costs for airlines compared to LAX may trickle down to the passenger fares. It might become worth it for passengers to make the trip to/from Burbank even though it may take an extended amount of time to reach the airport due to LA traffic.
For Hawaiian residents, the airline landscape has largely remained unchanged over the past few years. Southwest Airlines continues to be the primary competitor to the Alaska-Hawaiian joint partnership on flights involving the mainland. Despite Southwest entering the market with high expectations and excitement, they haven’t really lived up to the hype. Hawaiians continue to rely on Hawaiian Airlines for inter island flights and flights to the contiguous United States.
With Alaska – Hawaiian continuing to improve their product and Southwest undergoing major company changes to their operating procedures, it is likely we see the balance of consumer support tip dominantly towards Alaska – Hawaiian in the next few years.
If one airline deserves recognition as 2025’s biggest success story, Alaska Airlines will be taking home some hardware. The way the carrier has been handling the merger with Hawaiian Airlines and execution of its vision of being the dominant airline on the West Coast has been spectacular.
But the real item to point out is the way they are rolling out routes like this new one between Burbank and Hawaii. They are listening to their customers’ needs. They are not expanding just to remain competitive. Alaska Airlines is growing because they want to be a vital solution for travel for West Coast residents.
All this success does come with a bittersweet reality though. The Hawaiian Airlines brand appears to be losing its identity. All Hawaiian Airlines flights now operate under Alaska’s operating certificate. That means that Hawaiian Airlines flights must use the Alaska Airlines call sign now. Hawaiian’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners have been pivoted towards joining Alaska Airlines fleet.
And now, with the new Burbank – Honolulu route pairing in the mix, one can speculate that Alaska may absorb Hawaiian’s existing Hawaii-West Coast routes currently flown with Airbus A321s.
For West Coast travelers, this has been an exciting time to fly. The region is seeing new routes and services pop up pretty often now. You have the following to look out for:
Alaska’s new Burbank – Honolulu route is just one piece of the puzzle. But the big picture is that Alaska and Hawaiian are both working together as one to make Hawaiian island travel more accessible and convenient than ever before.
