Royal Australian Air Force's A62-002

The Royal Australian Air Force is taking delivery of their second of two 737-8 BBJs today. A62-002 (c/n 67960, l/n 8610) is making its delivery flight from BFI to CBR, via HNL, as ASY379, with an overnight stop here tonight. This BBJ will be assigned to the No. 34 Squadron. Sister-ship A62-001 was delivered three weeks ago.

With these two new BBJs arriving, the two 737-7DT BBJs, A36-001 (c/n 30829, l/n 738) and A36-002 (c/n 30790, l/n 613) will be retired,

Xiamen Air's B-20CR

Xiamen Air is taking delivery of B-20CR (c/n 64678, l/n 7697) today. This 737-8 is making its delivery flight from BFI to XMN, via HNL and GUM, as CXA800, and will overnight at HNL tonight.

D-ANEO

D-ANEO (msn 8612), an A319-153N ACJ, owned by K5-Aviation, is making a stop at HNL from BFI as KAY57. The flight originated from VIE on the 28th.

D-ANEO's History:

Aug 2019: Delivered to K5-Aviation with a VIP cabin configuration.

01 Aug 2024 UPDATE

D-ANEO departed for OGG this afternoon.

04 AUG 2024 UPDATE

D-ANEO departed OGG for LAX this morning.

Omega Tanker's N707GF

Omega Tanker's 707-3K1C, N707GF (c/n 20804, l/n 883) is making a stop at HNL from RIV as OME77.

20804's History:

May 1974: Delivered to TAROM (Transporturi Aeriene Romana Sovietica) as YR-ABB.

Jun 1976: Transferred to the Romanian Government as the Prime Minister's VIP transport.

Jly 1990: Transferred to LAR (Linile Aerien Romane).

Nov 1990: Leased to Trans Caribbean Airlines for two months.

Oct 1991: Leased to Suriname TCA for four months.

Feb 1992: Transferred to Romavia.

Feb 1995: Leased to Aero Asia International [Pakistan] for three months.

May 1995: Transferred back to the Romanian Government, and named "Carpati".

Sep 2012: Acquired by Omega Tanker as N707GF.

Luftwaffe's 10+02

One of the Luftwaffe's A350-941 ACJ350s, 10+02 "Theodore Heuss" (msn 526), is making a stop at HNL from BER [Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, Berlin, Germany], and is flying as GAF955.

The ACJ350s are assigned to the 2. Lufttransportstaffel (2nd Air Transport Squadron), Flugberreitschaft des Bindesministeriums der Vertedigung (Executive Transport Wing of the Federal Ministry of Defense), and are based at CGN [Köln Bonn Airport, Köln, Germany].

US Air Force's 62-4129

The US Air Force's TC-135W, 62-4129 (c/n 18469, l/n 3035), is making a stop at HIK, from GVT [Majors Airport, Greenville, TX] as SAME40. This trainer for the RC-135V and W series, is making its way to DNA [Kadena Airbase, Okinawa, Japan].

Atlas Air's N862GT

The second-to-last 747 produced, N862GT "Inspire." (c/n 67149, l/n 1573, f/n 862), is making its first stop at HNL. Atlas Air's 747-8F logo jet for freight forwarder Kuehne & Nagel is arriving from LAX as GTI8173, and will continue onto ICN as GTI9174.

Luftwaffe Joins RIMPAC 2024

The Luftwaffe has sent a party of Eurofighter Typhoons and A400Ms to Hawaii to participate in RIMPAC 2024. 

Three Typhoons from the Tactical Air Force Wing 73 (Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 73) "Steinhoff" arrived early Friday morning after completing a record-setting flight from Chitose, Japan. The flight would set the longest flight ever done by a Eurofighter, 10hrs 31min in the air with multiple mid-air refuelings supported by the air refueling contractor, Metrea. Two A400M Atlas from Air Transport Wing 62 (Lufttransportgeschwader 62) are accompanying the Typhoons, and are fitted with external refueling wing pods.

This comes as part of the tri-national exercise, "Pacific Skies". Air assets from Germany, France, and Spain would forward deploy to the Indo-Asia-Pacifc region and participate in joint training with local forces. Pacific Skies consists of, Artic Defender-Alaska, Nippon Skies-Japan, RIMPAC 24 (Germany only), Pitch Black-Australia and Trang Shakit 1-India.

Qantas' VH-ZNH

Qantas Airways' 787-9 DreamLiner, VH-ZNH "Great Barrier Reef" (c/n 36241, l/n 778), with the "Go Australia" decal for the 2024 Australian Olympics and Paralympics teams, is making its first stop at HNL since the decals were applied. This 787 is flying the airlines SYD-HNL-SYD route as QFA103/104.

N737ST

N737ST (c/n 66147, l/n 7833), a 737-8 owned by Boeing, is making a flight from BFI to KOA as BOE401. It's not known who and/or where this 737 is bound for. The above photo was taken as N737ST departed BFI for KOA.

It's not known if it's still wearing the Ural Airlines livery, where it was destined to be leased from Sberbank Leasing as VP-BHR. Due to the on-going war in Ukraine, and the embargo placed on new aircraft going to Russia, the airliner was not taken up.

02 Aug 2024 UPDATE

N737ST is still on KOA's south FBO ramp.

03 Aug 2024 UPDATE

BOE401 performed a 3.5 hour test flight out of KOA today.

04 Aug 2024 UPDATE

N737ST returned to BFI as BOE401 today.

Air China B-226A

Air China is taking delivery of B-226A (c/n 60930, l/n 7971) today. This 737-8 is making its delivery flight from BFI to PEK, via HNL and GUM, as CCA80, and will overnight at HNL tonight.

China Southern Airlines' B-20D3

China Southern Airlines is taking delivery of B-20D3 (c/n 63286, l/n 7677) today. This 737-8 is making its delivery flight from BFI to CAN, via HNL and GUM, as CSN5073, and will overnight at HNL tonight.

US-Bangla Airlines' S2-AJB

US-Bangla Airlines is returning S2-AJB (c/n 28251, l/n 1200) to its lessor, AerCap. This 737-8Q8 is making its ferry flight from SZB to GWO, via GUM, JRF, and TUS. It will make a stop at JRF tonight, and leave in the pre-dawn hours for TUS. It's been noted that this 737 will be parted and scrapped at GWO.

28251's History:

Sep 2002: Delivered to Shanghai Airlines as B-2686, under lease from ILFC.

Jan 2010: Painted in the current livery.

May 2014: Acquired by AerCap, and the lease transferred.

Nov 2016: Leased to US-Bangla Airlines as S2-AJB.

Sep 2022: Ferried to HYD for storage for 11 months.

Dec 2023: Withdrawn from service, and stored at DAC.

Shanghai Airlines' B-225G

Shanghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-225G (c/n 61654, l/n 7919) today. This 737-8 is making its delivery flight from BFI to PVG, via HNL and GUM, as CSH9001; and will make an overnight stop at HNL tonight. B-225G is the first 737-8 delivered to Shanghai Airlines since March 2022, as the airline sold several built 737s to Air India Express as part of the re-marketing by Boeing.

Pacific Air Cargo Launches HNL-GUM Service

Kalitta Air is launching a weekly 747-400F LAX-HNL-GUM service today for Pacific Air Cargo. This will be in addition to their daily LAX-HNL round-trip service. This new one-way service is flown as CKS380. N705CK "Dwight Palmer" (c/n 26413, l/n 1286), a 747-4B5F, is making the first flight today.

Atlas Air Launches New Cargo Service To HNL

Atlas Air began round-trip 767-300F cargo service between EHU [Ezhou Huahu Airport, Ezhou, China] and HNL, via NGO. N663GT (c/n 27658, l/n 563), a 767-324ERF, is making the initial flight today. The service is scheduled to operate five times per week. N663GT was ferried from MIA on the 20th, and positioned at EHU, via NGO on the 21st. The flight code is GTI8xxx. 

Royal Air Force Joins RIMPAC 2024

An MRA1 Poseidon and a KC2 Voyager from the Royal Air Force are participating in this year's RIMPAC exercise. The MRA1, or P-8A, ZP808 (c/n 66108, l/n 8757) is from the No. 40 Expeditionary Air Wing, based at RAF Lossiemouth. The KC2, or A330-243 MRTT, ZZ343 (msn 1610), is from the No. 38 Expeditionary Air Wing, based at RAF Brize Norton.

QantasLink's VH-NXE

Southern Cross International is ferrying QantasLink's VH-NXE "Maria Island National Park" (c/n 55063, l/n 5034) from CBR to VCV, via APW and KOA. This 717-23S, which was owned by National Jet Systems, is flying as SXI2452, and will make an overnight stop at KOA tonight.

55063's History:

Sep 2000: Delivered to Impulse Airlines as VH-SMH, under lease from Pembroke.

May 2001: Operated for QantasLink VH-VQE.

May 2004: Leased to Jetstar Airways.

Jun 2005: Leased to National Jet Systems, re-registered as VH-NXE, and named "Maria Island National Park".

Jun 2007: Sold to All Aviation, and the lease transferred.

Jan 2011: Sold to HKAC, and the lease transferred.

Jan 2022: Painted in the current livery.

USS Carl Vinson Visit

HNL RareBirds™ was invited to go on an embark tour of the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) today. As part of RIMPAC 2024, the Vinson is the lead aircraft carrier for this maritime exercise. The ship left port on 11 July, and began flight operations the next day, and has been running flight ops since. I was part of a five-person media group that included a reporter from Naval News, a pair of reporters from France, and a local independent writer.

For our embark tour, we were taken to Marine Corps Air Station at Kāneʻohe Bay (NGF), where we would ride on a CMV-22B from the VRM-30 "Titans". After a meeting and a safety briefing, we donned our aviators life preserver, foam earplugs, and cranial helmet, then proceeded to walk out to the ramp to our awaiting Osprey, Bu No 169454 (msn D2020, f/n 24). Once seated and strapped in, it was a short taxi to Runway 4, and a quick takeoff as RUDY24. Our flight out to CVN-70 was listed at 45 minutes, with a routing that turned left to cross the Ko‘olau Mountains, over metro Honolulu, and somewhere to the south.

Once aboard the USS Carl Vinson, we had lunch, then a quick briefing with the ship's PAO, LCMDR Devin Arneson and her team. Our first stop was the flight deck. Before going out, we all had to put on a safety vest, and cranial. There were FA-18Es, FA-18Fs, F-35s, and EA-18Gs being launched off of the two side catapults. Once the launches were completed, the deck was readied for recoveries as other jets were returning from their sorties. The closest we were to the to the launches and recoveries was about 15 yards.

After the flight deck, it was an interview session with Admiral Michael Wosje, Commander of Carrier Strike Group 1; and Captain Matthew Thomas, Commanding Officer of the USS Carl Vinson. We also got to see the flight ops room, the navigation room, and the observation deck to view more flight ops, but from a hight point-of-view. We also got a tour of the ship's medical section. After a short break, we were treated to a second tour of the flight deck, which had launches off one of the forward catapults, and recoveries on the aft deck.

The last part of the tour was the hangar deck, where there were some aircraft undergoing maintenance, and some stored to save flight deck space. It was amazing to see the amount of aircraft parked on this deck, and such a confined space.

When it was time to leave to return to K-Bay, we all got ready with our life preservers and cranials, and waited for our CMV-22B. RUDY24 returned to take us back to shore. We boarded the tilt-rotor, strapped in, and departed the Vinson in less than ten minutes. Our 45-minute flight took us back over Honolulu, the Koʻolau Range, and Kāneʻohe Bay, before landing on NGF's Runway 4. A short taxi to the Air Terminal ramp concluded as dusk began to fall.

We would like to extend a big māhalo to the people at RIMPAC Media for the invite of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thank you for your service!

NOAA To Receive A Second G550

NOAA announced today that they will receive a second G550, along with the first that is on order, and will replace N49RF "Gonzo" in 2025. This second G550 will be delivered in 2028.