Air Canada said it plans to add flights for winter vacationers traveling from Calgary to Hawai'i beginning Dec. 5.

The flights will be operated on a seasonal basis, catering to so-called "snowbirds" who head for sunny vacation spots during the depth of Canada's winter. Air Canada said it will operate up to five weekly flights from Canada to Hawai'i, with up to three to Maui and two to Honolulu.

The announcement is good news for the state's tourism industry, which has witnessed a decline in visitors from Canada this year.

"We are pleased to launch the only nonstop flights from both Honolulu and Maui to Calgary this winter, saving more than 2 1/2 hours of trip time in each direction when compared to flying over other routings," said Marcel Forget, vice president of network planning at Air Canada.

The news comes on the heels of an announcement by Canada-based WestJet that it is expanding winter flights to Hawai'i.

The Air Canada flights are significant because they bring visitors from a place that lacked direct flights and has cold winters, said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert. "It really opens up a whole other side of Canada," she said.

Calgary is Canada's fifth-largest city with a metropolitan area population of more than 1.1 million people. Calgary, which has energy and agricultural industries, also is the largest city in the Western Canada province of Alberta.

Canada historically has been one of Hawai'i's smaller visitor markets, making up about 10 percent of the tourists that come to the state, Wienert said. But that market has increased each year for the last five years. And the amount that Canadians spend has been climbing along with the appreciation of the Canadian dollar.

Wienert cited the latest statistics that showed the average per-day spending of visitors from Canada exceeded the U.S. West visitors by $2 — $152 compared with $150 per day.

At the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, vice president David Uchiyama said the new Air Canada flights will be an increase of 1,235 seats available weekly on top of 3,417 already scheduled, an increase of about a third.

He said Canadian visitors have earned a reputation for their repeat visits and long stays. "They have a love of the islands and the warmth," Uchiyama said.

The average length of stay for a Canadian visitor is almost 13 nights, compared to 10 nights for visitors from the U.S. East, nine and a half days for visitors from the U.S. West, and six days for visitors from Japan.

On Nov. 7, WestJet plans to launch a weekly flight every Saturday from Victoria, British Columbia, to Honolulu. WestJet also is adding a seasonal twice-weekly flight this winter from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Lihu'e, Kaua'i, starting Dec. 16. The flights will be on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

In addition, WestJet said it will increase the frequency of its Vancouver-to-Honolulu flight to seven days a week Oct. 8, to 11 times a week Nov. 1, and 12 times a week Dec. 16. It also will boost its Vancouver-to-Maui service to seven days a week Oct. 7, 10 times a week Nov. 1 and 12 times a week Dec. 16.