Air X Charter's 9H-BIG

Air X Charter's 9H-BIG (msn 374) is stopping at HNL today. This A340-312 is making an around the world charter flight on behalf of Safrans du Monde. The flight is arriving from NLU [Felipe Angeles International Airport, Ciudad de México, México] as AXY839Y. It's scheduled to depart for NAN on the 15th.

374's History:

Dec 2000: Delivered to AOM French Airlines as F-GTUB, with the "Qualifiers Group" titles, under lease from Flightlease.

Oct 2003: Leased to SriLankan Airlines as 4R-ADF.

Feb 2005: Sold to Debis AirFinance, and the lease transferred.

Oct 2005: Sold to AerCap, and the lease transferred.

Sep 2008: Sold to Veling, and the lease transferred.

Jan 2016: Withdrawn from service.

Jly 2016: Sold to European Aviation, and leased to Air X Charter as M-VVIP; Re-registered as 9H-BIG Sep 2016: Sold to Avmax Group, and the lease transferred. Re-registered as 9H-BIG two months later.

Feb 2023: Wore decals for the Def Leppard / Motley Crüe World Tour for one month.

15 Mar 2024 UPDATE

9H-BIG will continue its around the world charter to NAN as AXY875V.

French Air Force's F-RAJB

An A340-212 of the Armée De L'Air arrived this afternoon from YVR for a fuel stop. F-RAJB (c/n 081)[above] and sister-ship F-RAJA often utilizes Gate 34 instead of parking at Hickam when in Honolulu.

French Air Force's F-RAJA

F-RAJA (msn 075), an A340-212 belonging to the French Air Force's (Armée de l'Air) Commandment du Transport Aérien Militaire Français (COTAM), has been making stops at HNL recently. According to FlightRadar24.com, flies from HNL to YVR, then CDG. F-RAJA departed HNL this morning as "COTAM1018" (above), and was seen last Thursday parked at Gate 34.

COTAM has two A340-212, the other is F-RAJB (msn 081).

Saudi Arabian Government's HZ-124

Our April edition of "HNL RareBirds Classic" features this A340-213, HZ-124 (msn 004), that was photographed while parked on HardStand 1A in October 1998. It's registered to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defence and Aviation, and features a VIP cabin configuration. HZ-124 was delivered in February 1997, though it first flew in January 1992.

Armée De L`Air's F-RAJB

An Armée De L`Air (French Air Force) A340-212, F-RAJB (c/n 081), arrived at HNL yesterday, and parked at Gate 34 while on a fuel stop. F-RAJB is one of two VIP transports for French government officials.

Mahalo to "HI" for the photo!

Qatar A340 At Kahului

The registration on this A340-211 is A7-HHK (msn 026). It's assigned to the Royal/VIP section of Qatar Airways known as "Amiri Flight." A rare bird indeed; and she's a long way from Doha. It was first spotted this morning, and was still here in the afternoon. It's the first A340 I've seen here.

Royal Brunei Airlines' V8-BKH

A Royal Brunei Airlines (BI/RBA) A340-212, V8-BKH, (msn 046) is also visiting HNL. This aircraft belongs to the Sultan of Brunei, and is his personal aircraft, complete with a VIP interior. This is about the third time this jet has been at HNL this year.