Aloha Airlines will inaugurate service between Kaua'i and Southern California and also offer nonstop flights between Lihu'e and Kona for the first time in two decades beginning early next year.

Meanwhile, Hawaiian Airlines said it gained a key government approval for nonstop service to the Philippines capital, Manila.

Aloha Airlines said beginning Jan. 7, 2008, it will add nonstop service between Orange County and San Diego and Kaua'i and Kona. The Honolulu-based carrier said Orange County customers had said they'd like direct service to Kaua'i and that the new Kona-San Diego route will be one of the fastest ways to get to California's second-largest city.

Depending on the day of the week, the service will be nonstop to either of the two Hawai'i destinations.

For example, a flight originating in Orange County will fly without interruption to Lihu'e before continuing on to Kona on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The rest of the week the flight will touch down in Kona first before continuing on to Kaua'i.

Aloha said a byproduct of the new flights will be the reintroduction of Kona-Lihu'e service for the first time in about 20 years.

Hawaiian Airlines said it received U.S. Department of Transportation approval for what will be the only nonstop flight between Honolulu and Manila provided by a U.S. carrier.

The Honolulu-based carrier said it plans to start Manila service in March using a Boeing 767-300, an aircraft that will be configured to carry 264 passengers. The airline hopes to market the new service to Hawai'i's large Filipino population.

Hawaiian said almost 300,000 Hawai'i residents, or almost one-quarter of the state population, are either Filipino or part-Filipino.