Summer airline capacity to Hawaii off 13%

Airline seats on flights to Hawaii are forecast to drop 13 percent this summer.

That translates into 2.26 million seats for potential passengers, 389,000 fewer than were scheduled for the May-July period in 2007.

The cutbacks are led by a 15 percent reduction in seats from the U.S. West, Hawaii's largest market for visitors.

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It includes a 41 percent cut in seat capacity on flights from Las Vegas, a 51 percent cut from Sacramento, and a 7 percent cut from Los Angeles, the airport used by more than one-third of Mainland visitors to Hawaii.

Only Denver and Seattle will see increases in airline seats, up 20 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

Seats on international arrivals, meantime, are expected to decline 14 percent, driven by a 21 percent drop from Japan, Hawaii's largest international market for tourists.

The only bright spots internationally are jumps in air capacity on flights originating from Vancouver, B.C, the Philippines and Guam.

The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism analysis is based on scheduled flights from Official Airline Guide flight schedules as of April and are subject to change.