Hawaiian Airlines is increasing capacity on inter-island flights

By Dan Catchpole

FARNBOROUGH, England, July 21 (Reuters) - Hawaiian Airlines announced Tuesday that it is retiring its 19 Boeing 717s, which are all more than 20 years old, and replacing them with larger 737 Next Generation (NG) jets to keep up with growing demand for short inter-island flights beginning in 2028.

The 737 NGs have around 160 seats, compared to the 128 seats on the 717s. The airline needs the extra capacity during the middle of the day, Hawaiian CEO Diana Birkett Rakow told Reuters in an interview.

Alaska Airlines, which owns Hawaiian Airlines, also announced that it is nearly doubling its freighter capacity with leases for four 737 freighters. The jets are slated to enter service with Alaska in 2028 and will increase Alaska's freighter fleet from five to nine aircraft. 

(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Farnborough, England; Editing by Nick Zieminski)