On May 27, 2024, Hawaiian Airlines appointed Toru Sakaguchi as the head of its Japan branch. Sakaguchi will be responsible for the airline’s commercial operations in Japan including growth strategy, business development, and sales.
Between spending three years at Japan’s largest travel agency JTB at the start of his career and joining Hawaiian Airlines, Sakaguchi worked for American Airlines in a variety of Japan-based roles. Most recently, he served as the head of American Airlines’ Asia-Pacific commercial team. Upon starting his new role, Sakaguchi noted “I look forward to getting more people to experience our company’s Hawaiian hospitality and continuing to grow the Hawaiian AIrlines brand.”
Sakaguchi joins the company at a time when the Japanese yen trades around its 40-year low, making travel to the historically popular vacation destination difficult for many Japanese families.
The airline currently operates 28 flights a week to Japan, connecting Honolulu with Tokyo Haneda, Tokyo Narita, Osaka Kansai, and Fukuoka.
