Southwest ending nonstop flights Sept. 5 between Los Angeles and Kauaʻi, Big Island airports

On Sept. 5, the day after Labor Day, Southwest Airlines will end its daily nonstop flights between Los Angeles and two Hawaiʻi airports: Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport on the Big Island and Līhuʻe Airport on Kaua‘i

Southwest will still provide service between those airports, but it will require at least one stop and change of plane in either Honolulu or on the mainland — and the total number of flights will be cut back.

Currently, the airline has an average of 45 weekly flights both nonstop and with connections making the trek to Līhuʻe from Los Angeles and 44 flights going from Kona to Los Angeles. There are similar numbers on the flights from Los Angeles to Līhue and Kona.

“We do this kind of thing all over the country where we offer additional, nonstop service during peak seasons to bring time-saving journeys between places during seasons of demand that are specific for those markets,” Southwest Airlines spokesman Brad Hawkins said.

He added that the airline did the same thing last year, ending the nonstop flights between the Big Island and Kaua‘i airports and LAX on Sept. 5 and picking them back up on March 9 of this year to serve the “spring break to end of summer” time frame.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Services, 297,230 U.S. passengers flew from Kona International Airport to Los Angeles from April 2022 to March of this year.

The bureau’s data shows that 267,770 U.S. passengers flew from Līhuʻe Airport to Los Angeles International Airport during the same time frame. LA is the second most popular U.S. destination for U.S. passengers departing from both airports.

Southwest entered the Hawai‘i market on March 17, 2019, with service between Oakland, Calif., and Honolulu and then expanded to interisland flights by April of that year. The Dallas-based airline currently offers 90 flights a day that touch the state, including 60 interisland trips.

For additional information about flights and flight schedules, visit the Southwest Airlines website.