Strategic announces latest route plans

Strategic Airlines will commence flights between Australia and Hawaii from mid-December this year - and has other offshore plans.

The Brisbane-based Strategic is moving on Hawaii following US DoT approval last weekend.

The airline will employ an A330 in a two-class configuration across the Pacific, flying twice-weekly from both Brisbane and Melbourne to Honolulu.

Hawaii becomes the airline's third international destination after Phuket and Bali; and China is next in the expansion plan, with Strategic's management team already engaged in negotiations with Chinese regulators.

And December will also see the launch of direct flights between Brisbane and Melbourne on the domestic front as the airline aggressively ramps up activity.

There's talk of a change of name for Strategic to Air Australia, to capture the radical transformation of what was initially a charter operation.

With this pace of expansion it is inevitable that the questions start to be asked: Is there room in the market for another domestic player? Can Strategic fund the growth? Will the Australia-Honolulu route be over-serviced?