Cheap flights from Hawaii to French Polynesia/Tahiti?

Does anybody knows of any Cheap flights from Hawaii to French Polynesia/Tahiti?
Why does all airlines need to fly back to the mainland (LA) to depart to Tahiti? Isn't Honolulu closer?

I think Hawaiian Air used to fly from Hawaii to Tahiti, check on that. Other than that, no connections except via LAX or NZ.

It's kind of a triangle from LAX to HNL to Tahiti. Hawaii is in North Pacific, not the South Pacific. Check a Pacific map and you'll see what I mean. Hawaii is not on the direct route from LAX to Tahiti, it's a bit to the west.

Its not cheap, but Hawaiian Air does fly 1 X week. It is a shorter flight but there is no competition.

It is the ONLY direct flight from Hawaii. Otherwise from the US you can take Air Tahiti Nui from LAX or JFK, thats about it.

Ed

Hawaiian Airlines offers only one flight a week to and from Tahiti. Outgoing HNL-PPT on Saturday afternoon, return PPT-HNL on Sunday early morning. So you need to stay in one-week intervals (1,2,3 weeks at a time), and book well in advance because flights fill up. Depending where you live, it might be cheaper to fly Hawaiian Airlines from your home city, with a connection in Honolulu, than to get to LA and then fly to PPT from LAX. The only two remaining carriers from LAX to PPT are Air Tahiti Nui and Air France. Air New Zealand and Qantas have stopped service to PPT from LAX, and now just code-share from there.

Flying time from LAX to PPT is about 8 to 8.5 hours. Flying time from HNL to PPT is 5 to 5.5 hours, but you need to get yourself to Honolulu first, so it's generally a longer route, but with a NICER stopover!

Thank you Barbi, for liking my former hometown! Most people on TT hate both Papeete and Honolulu.

Ed