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Posted: Thursday, March 7th, 2013 5:42 AM HST

Hawaii tourism officials seek Tokyo-Kona flights

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — The Hawaii Tourism Authority is working to have Japan Airlines fly 10 flights from Tokyo's Narita airport to Kailua-Kona this summer in hopes they sell well and lead the carrier to restore regularly scheduled service to the Big Island. HTA Brand Management Vice President David Uchiyama said Wednesday the grounding of Boeing 787 aircraft is creating uncertainty for the plan. The grounding means the airline may not have enough planes to operate the charters. Uchiyama says how soon 787 planes can fly will determine whether Japan Airlines will follow through. Boeing is seeking Federal Aviation Administration approval for a plan to fix batteries that have grounded the planes. Japan Airlines flew nonstop from Narita to Kona for 14 years. It halted the flight in 2010 while it restructured during bankruptcy.