Qatar Executive's A7-AAH

Qatar Executive's A340-313, A7-AAH (msn 528), is making a stop at HNL this morning. It arrived from NRT, and flew under its registration as its call-sign.

528's History:

Apr 2003: Delivered to Singapore Airlines as 9V-SJP, under lease from Boeing Aircraft Holding Company, but did not enter service.

Oct 2003: Leased to China Airlines as B-18851 (above photo).

Mar 2006: Subleased to Mandarin Airlines.

Aug 2007: Acquired by Qatar Amiri Flight as A7-AAH, and converted to a VIP transport.

Sep 2016: Transferred to Qatar Executive.

30 July 2025 UPDATE 

A7-AAH repositioned to the ‘Ewa Hardstands.

02 August 2025 UPDATE

A7-AAH departed for KOA this afternoon.

08 August 2025 UPDATE

A7-AAH departed for LAX this morning.

Philippine Airlines Retires A340 Fleet

Philippine Airlines retired it’s last A340-313X, RP-C3441 (msn 474), today. It’s ferrying from MNL to SFB, via SFO, as PAL5006.

Further information in this CH-Aviation.com article.

Air Tahiti Nui's F-OSUN

Air Tahiti Nui is retiring F-OSUN "Moorea" (msn 446) as it ferries from PPT to VCV, via HNL. This A340-313, which was delivered to Air Tahiti Nui in December 2002, is the first of their three A340s to be retired, as the airline replaces the fleet with 787-9s.

Air New Zealand Wet-Leases 9H-SUN

Air New Zealand has wet-leased an A340-312 from Hi Fly Malta [5M/HFM]. 9H-SUN (msn 367) is operating Air New Zealand's ANZ9/10 (AKL-HNL-AKL) service, while ANZ's 787-9s have its Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines repaired. The Telegraph reports that the FAA, EASA, and the engine manufacturer notified airlines using the Trent 1000 to limit ETOPS flights to 140 minutes away from airports. According to our sources, this lease will be for about three weeks.

367 was originally delivered to AOM French Airlines [IW/AOM] in December 2000 as F-GTUA, under lease from Flightlease. In October 2003, it was leased to SriLankan Airlines [UL/ALK] as 4R-ADE. From 2007 to 2014, Macquarie AirFinance owned this A340. Castlelake bought this Airbus in 2014, and is the current owner. SriLankan Airlines returned this A340 in October 2015. Three months later, it was leased to Hi Fly Malta as 9H-SUN, where it flies as a white tail. From June to December 2017, it leased to Corsair [SS/CRL].

N278TA

N278TA (msn 278), an A340-313, is ferrying from SFB [Orlando Sanford International Airport, FL] to CGK, via HNL.

278 was purchased by Orix Aviation, and leased to Air Canada in June 1999 as C-GDVZ (f/n 910). In June 2009, it was leased to Air Asia X as 9M-XAC, and wore the Oakland Raiders special livery for three years. It was subleased to Saudi Arabian Airlines from June 2012 to November 2013. After it was returned to Air Asia X, it remained as a white tail, but wore a decal for Wakanow.com (a Nigerian travel company) for a short period of time. It was stored at SZW [Schwerin-Parchim, Germany] from August 2015 to July 2016. Lufthansa Technik acquired this A340, and registered it as D-AAAM, and ferried to SFB.

Armee De L`Air's F-RAJB

Occasionally one of two A340-212s of the Armee De L`Air passes through Honolulu to and from French Polynesia. F-RAJB (c/n081) arrived this morning and took on fuel before continuing on.

Philippine Airlines New Long-Haul Plans

Philippine Airlines announced that they have placed an order with Airbus for six A350-900XWBs (with an option for six more). The announcement was made at the Singapore Air Show. As the A350-900s enter the fleet in 2018 and 2019, the airline will retire their aging A340-300s.

Further details in this Airbus press release.

Philippine Airlines To Increase HNL-MNL Frequency

Beginning August 1st, Philippine Airlines will increase its frequency of PAL100/101 (HNL-MNL) from three A340-300 weekly to five weekly flights. In late October, the airline plans to go daily on the route.

Since Hawaiian Airlines canceled their HNL-MNL route, Philippines is the sole airline providing direct service between HNL and MNL.

Further details in this AirlineRoute.com report.

China Eastern Downguages PVG-HNL Service

With Friday's flight, China Eastern Airlines will phase out their A340-313Xs on their twice-weekly PVG-HNL service. Beginning 18 May, China Eastern will utilize their A330-243s for CES571/572. In the interim (24 Apr - 15May), CES will substitute their A340-642s.

China Eastern's B-2384 (msn 182) is seen above, earlier this year, taxiing on Taxiway C for a Runway 26L departure to PVG. B-2384 is the last of five A340-313Xs still in service, and will be retired upon arrival in PVG.

China Eastern's SkyTeam B-6053

For their PVG-HNL service today, China Eastern Airlines substituted their SkyTeam A340-642 logojet, B-6053 (msn 577), in place of their normal A340-343s.

Luzair To Operate Japan-HNL Charters

AirlinerRoutes.com reports that Portuguese charter airline Luzair (LUZ) will fly 21 charter flights from a variety of Japanese cities to HNL. The flights will last from 13 November 2011 to 03 January 2012 using their A340-300.

Stay tuned for more details!

China Eastern Begins Scheduled Service

Today, China EasternAirlines begins its scheduled service between Shanghai-PuDong, China (PVG/ZSPD) and Honolulu. Flying this historic first flight was B-2380 (c/n 129), a A340-313X. This China Eastern flight will fly twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays, as CES571/572.

China Eastern To HNL

China Eastern Airlines (MU/CES) is seeking government approval to provide Tuesday and Friday service between PVG (Pudong-Shanghai International Airport, Shanghai, China) and HNL using an Airbus A340 with 300 seats. The variant was not defined, though their A340-300s are listed as having 287 seats, and their A340-600s have 320 seats. Service is scheduled to begin on August 9th.

Article link from China Economic. Hawaii News Now's Howard Dicus also reported this announcement on this morning's "Sunrise" morning news.

In the above photo taken in 2004, it shows this China Eastern A340-642, B-6051 (msn 488), on final approach to LAX's Runway 24R.

When China Eastern flew their PVG-HNL charter flights earlier this year, they used their A340-313Xs.

China Eastern's Charter

The first of three charter flights from PVG (Shanghai - Pudong), landed at approximately 11:30am today as CES297. With 263 passengers aboard, this flight was the first to operate under the new agreement to increase air traffic between China and Hawai‘i. China Eastern is operating these charter flights on the behalf of China CTYS Tour Holding company.

Seen above is ship B-2384 a A340-313X (msn 182), after a direct flight from Shanghai - Pudong International (PVG/ZSPD) taxing to Gate 27.

China Eastern To Fly Charters From China

Hawaii News Now is reporting that China Eastern Airlines will be using their Airbus A340-300s to make two flights from Shanghai to HNL for the Chinese New Year.

Air Tahiti Nui

During last's week Tsunami warning this Air Tahiti Nui flight THT77 (A340-313X, F-OLOV, msn 668) diverted to Honolulu from Narita due to a possibility of the Tsunami hitting Papeete. It remained overnight and departed early Sunday morning.

Air Tahiti Nui's F-OJGF

Air Tahiti Nui's flight THT706, from PPT to HNL, made another appearance yesterday. F-OJGF (msn 385), an A340-313X, made its presence at HNL on this charter flight.

A big mahalo to S. Alvarez for taking this shot while it was being tended to at Gate 24.

Air Tahiti Nui's THT706

An Air Tahiti Nui flight is scheduled today to arrive this afternoon from PPT as THT706, an A340-313X.

My guess it's the charter flight that Air Tahiti Nui serves HNL on a yearly basis.

***Update 07-12-09***
The return flight to PPT, THT705, departed at 1852HST.

Delayed Air Canada AC33

Normally, the Air Canada flights AC33 and AC34 depart around midnight. This morning, AC33 was delayed for over 7 hours. What a surprise to find an Air Canada A340 (C-GDVW) parked at Gate 25 at 6:00am. Air Canada only uses the A340 for their YVR-HNL-SYD flight seasonally. This flight finally departed at 7:10am. It was a little too dark, but here's a shot of C-GDVW at Gate 25 this morning:

Air Tahiti Nui's 2nd appearance at HNL

Air Tahiti Nui flew in again today from PPT as TN706. It arrived a little after 12:30pm and parked again at Gate 25. It left just before 4:00pm back to PPT as TN561. Sorry, no pictures this time.