Virgin Airlines Begins LA–Maui Flights Today

Virgin America graphic.

Virgin America’s nonstop daily flights from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Kahului Airport (OGG) began today, with connecting flights from most Virgin America markets, further adding to the airline’s Hawai‘i routes following the launch of LAX–Honolulu (HNL) last month.

Hawai‘i remains the most preferred destination by Virgin America’s Elevate frequent flier program members and continues to be the No. 1 tourism destination from the West Coast, with over 3.5 million visitors in 2015.

Virgin America is the only airline serving the route with new aircraft that offer three custom-designed classes of service, touchscreen personal entertainment and an award-winning on-demand food and cocktail menu on every flight.

Virgin America has been named the “Best Domestic Airline” in both Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards and in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards for the past eight consecutive years.

“Since we launched service to Hawai‘i last year, the response from our guests has been overwhelming, and we’re thrilled to add yet another route and give flyers the ability to travel from Los Angeles to Maui in style,” said John MacLeod, senior vice president of sales and planning at Virgin America. “Our aircraft offer three custom-designed classes of service, signature mood lighting, touchscreen personal entertainment and an award-winning on-demand food and cocktail menu on every flight—allowing Los Angeles travelers to begin their vacation the minute they step onboard.”

In honor of the new route, Virgin America is celebrating with a special “Now Serving Paradise” sale with fares from $199 one way (taxes and fees included and restrictions applying).

The new LAX–HNL and LAX–OGG flights are on sale now and can be purchased at www.virginamerica.com or 1-877-FLY-VIRGIN.

Elevate program members can redeem reward flights to Hawai‘i with no black-out dates for as few as 8,596 points (plus taxes and fees). Members can earn more points by signing up for the Virgin America Visa Signature Credit Card.

Guests onboard the inaugural flight were treated to free GoPro Hero Session cameras to help document their Hawaiian vacation. The Hero Session is GoPro’s smallest, lightest GoPro yet, packing GoPro’s Emmy Award-winning image quality and performance into a new low profile form factor.

Guests will also be treated to a complimentary POG mimosa toast at 35,000 feet with Kalani Robb, GoPro athlete and professional surfer.

Virgin America and GoPro first partnered in 2013 to launch The GoPro Channel onboard the airline fleetwide.

Upon touchdown in Maui, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority will greet travelers in the tradition of Hawai‘i’s aloha spirit with fresh flower lei and live Hawaiian music right at the gate.

“Virgin America’s nonstop Maui service and in-flight hospitality presents an enticing pairing for its customers in greater Los Angeles when making vacation plans,” said George D. Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. “Maui, the Magic Isle, is an extremely popular destination choice for travelers from Southern California. Virgin America’s daily Los Angeles-Maui flights offer a convenient new option that will meet customer demand and be a great boost in business for the island’s tourism industry.”

Starting today, Virgin America’s Los Angeles to Kahului-Maui service is as follows:

Virgin America’s Los Angeles to Honolulu service is as follows:

The daily, nonstop flights will be operated with new Airbus A320 aircraft that Virgin America has taken delivery of this year. They are equipped with fuel-saving “sharklet” wingtip devices, allowing the airline to operate flights more efficiently, especially over longer haul routes.

In addition to a Main Cabin that offers custom-designed leather seating with a deeper, more comfortable pitch, Virgin America’s exclusive eight-seat First Class cabin offers plush white leather seating with 55 inches of pitch, 165 degrees of recline and lumbar massagers.

The carrier’s Main Cabin Select service offers 38-inches of pitch, free food and cocktails, an all-access pass to media content, dedicated overhead bins and priority check-in/boarding.

The Red in-flight entertainment platform offers guests their own seatback touch-screen TV, with more than 20 films, TV, interactive Google Maps, videogames, a 3,000 song library and an on-demand menu, which allows flyers to order a cocktail or snack from their seatback any time during a flight.

With a full service First Class menu and a unique on-demand menu in the Main Cabin, Virgin America was named Travel + Leisure’s “Best Domestic Airline for Food” in 2014.

Last month, nearly 100,000 Los Angelenos entered a “Work Hard, Hawai‘i Hard” contest launched by Virgin America for a chance at the ultimate #Hawaiiscape with tickets to paradise on the airline’s upscale flights and luxury accommodations—just by sharing why they need a vacation.

Additionally, Virgin America also surprised one random business traveler at LAX this morning with their very own trip to paradise, including flights and accommodations at one of the island’s premier resorts, Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea.

As part of its efforts to plant new roots in the Hawai‘i community, Virgin America has also announced a continued partnership with Aha Pūnana Leo, a nonprofit that provides for and nurtures various Hawaiian language environments.

Started by a group of Hawaiian language educators in 1982, the organization’s advocacy has resulted in an education system in which students in Hawai‘i may study from preschool all the way through doctoral-level studies in the indigenous Hawaiian language. The airline is providing $10,000 to support the organization’s education programs in Maui this year.

Since its 2007 launch, Virgin America has created more than 2,800 new jobs and expanded its network to include Austin, Boston, Cancun, Chicago, Dallas Love Field, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Cabos, Newark, New York (JFK and LGA), Orlando, Palm Springs, Portland, Puerto Vallarta, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C. (IAD and DCA), Honolulu and Kahului, Maui.

Virgin America photo.

Virgin America photo.

For more information, including terms and conditions, visit www.virginamerica.com.

Virgin America photo.