President Joe Biden declared the Hawaiian wildfires a “major disaster.”
Topline
Major U.S. airlines are sending additional planes to the island of Maui in Hawaii to help with evacuations as the island struggles to control wildfires that engulfed the small tourist town of Lahaina on Wednesday, as tourists and residents seek a quick exit from the island’s small airport and authorities call for a suspension of “all non-essential travel” to Maui.Key Facts
Maui County officials said they would resume evacuation efforts at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, bussing people from Kaanapali—located north of the historic town of Lahaina—to Kahului Airport.
United told Forbes it had canceled all inbound flights to Maui’s Kahului Airport on Thursday, while empty planes sent to the airport can be used as passenger flights to Hawaii’s mainland.
American Airlines—which noted it expected to continue all inbound and outbound flights–-said it would add an additional flight to Maui while also providing aircraft for evacuations out of the airport.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority said all non-essential travel to Maui is “strongly discouraged at this time,” while hundreds gathered at the airport overnight trying to depart the island.
