HA Applies for Unique Route..KOA - HND...?

Hawaiian Airlines on Wednesday requested U.S. Department of Transportation Sec. Anthony Foxx to immediately approve its application to provide service between KOA - HND.If approved, service to Kona could begin around Oct. 30, but no less than 90 days after the department approves the application. Service to Honolulu, a second nonstop route requested, could commence as early as Oct. 30.
In a motion filed Wednesday afternoon, Hawaiian said it was the only applicant for the single available nighttime frequency to serve Haneda Airport that will be available to U.S. airlines when a February agreement between the U.S. Government and Japan takes effect later this year.
“It is long-standing DOT practice to grant an airline a route when no other airlines are competing for the same limited opportunity,” Mark Dunkerley, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, said in a prepared statement Thursday. “When you couple the lack of other applicants with our demonstrated knowledge of the Japanese market, it is clear that granting Hawaiian the right to operate this lone nighttime slot from Haneda to Kona and Honolulu is in the best interest of the United States and the traveling public.”:mellow::confused::o