PORTLAND, Ore. — All flights between Hawaii and Portland, as well as other North American cities, will be temporarily suspended in order to prepare for a 14-day quarantine on the islands, set to begin Thursday.
Hawaiian Airlines announced Tuesday that it will maintain its regular flight schedule through Wednesday to allow people to return home, before suspending all but a single daily flight between Honolulu and Los Angeles.
“Hawai‘i is our home and all 7,500 of us at our company care deeply for it,” Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram said in a news release. “We support the state of Hawai‘i’s efforts to quickly contain this illness."
Hawaii Gov. David Ige ordered the two-week quarantine Saturday, before announcing a stay-at-home order Monday, to last through April 30.
Both measures are an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. As of Tuesday, Hawaii had reported 66 cases of COVID-19, according to the CDC.
The suspension of flights will last at least through the end of March. The airline has not yet announced its plans for April, but said it will be ready to resume its regular schedule once the quarantine has been lifted.
Hawaiian Airlines will also reduce its flights to neighboring islands, but will maintain some flights for those who need to travel between them.
Travelers who need to get home, cancel reservations or change flights can find resources online at hawaiianairlines.com/coronavirus.
--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB
This article was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive, one of more than a dozen news organizations throughout the state sharing their coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak to help inform Oregonians about this evolving health issue.