OGG East Ramp today

We did some passes in a 172 this afternoon. Counted 40 of these privates; some not in the photo.

Shenzhen's B-5410

Closing out the 2008 delivery flights are ...

Shenzhen Airlines' B-5410 (c/n 35088), a 737-8AL(W), which is flying as CSZ5410. Due to the lack of space on the south side of HNL, B-5410 parked on the north ramp at Hard Stand 3.

Sorry, no HNL photo ... though "Drewski2112" got this one at BFI.

Xiamen's B-5388

Xiamen Airlines' B-5388 (c/n 35635), a 737-86N(W), is making its delivery flight during the New Year's holiday as well, and is flying as CXA5388. It also parked on the north ramp at Hardstand 1B.

Sorry, no HNL photo ...

Malaysian Air Force A319CJ

A Malaysian Air Force A319-115X CJ, 9M-NAA (cn2949), was parked on the North Ramp today at HNL. This aircraft is apparently used by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Why is it at HNL? I don't know. But the engines are covered, so it may spend a couple of days here.

Ex-AQ 73Ws To Arik Air

The December 2008 issue of Airliner World reports that three former Aloha Airlines 737-76N(W)s that were leased by AQ from ILFC, have been taken up by Arik Air (Lagos, Nigeria)

N740AL "Kamohoali‘i" is now 5N-MJI
N741AL "Olopana" is now 5N-MJJ
N742AL "Hawai‘iloa" is now 5N-MJK

N168CF

A privately-owned MD-87, N168CF (c/n 49670), is in town. It's owned by Sunrider Corp. of Torrance,CA, which is a direct sales company. This MD-87 was previously N143G as a private jet (JEM Investments), and D-ALLG for AeroLloyd of Germany.

Xiamen's B-5386

After an extended stay on the BFI ramp, Xiamen Airlines' B-5386 (c/n 35634), a 737-86N(W), is making its delivery flight, and has made its first dtop at HNL. It's flying as CXA5386. B-5386 was one of the first 737s off the assembly line following the Boeing machinists strike, but its delivery was delayed for over two months.

Sorry, no HNL photo due to the heavy rains Sunday morning, but here's a shot at BFI.

The Next New 717 For Hawaiian

Another of the 717's acquired by HA is now in HNL. This 717-26R is an ex-QantasLink aircraft VH-NXF. It is still wearing the Australian registration in this picture, but looking at the nose gear doors, it will be become N488HA. Just like with all the other 717's, HA has given this aircraft the name of an endemic and normally endangered Hawaiian bird. N488HA will carry the name Puai‘ohi, the Small Kauai Thrush.

JAL Express' JA361J

JAL Express' newest 737-846(W), JA316J (c/n 35345), is being delivered through HNL today. This is the 16th 737-800 delivered to JAL. It will leave for MAJ tomorrow, December 24.

As for the HA 717 in the background, check the next post.

Air China's B-5198

Air China is taking delivery of B-5198 (c/n 36491), their newest 737-89L(W). It's flying as CCA058 from BFI ...

Mokulele's N870RW

N870RW (msn 1700138), is Mokulele Airlines's newest E170, and the third of the initial four E-Jets. It arrived via the same routing as the first two E170s

It was originally painted in the Delta Connection colors.

Obama Charters UA 763

President-elect Barack Obama chartered a United Airlines 767-322ER for his Hawai‘i vacation with his family. According to news reports, the 763 landed on Rwy8L, and parked on the south ramp near the CO hangar, where a limousine picked up the Obamas' to take them and their entourage to a a home in an exclusive Kailua neighborhood.

I guess the North American Airlines 757-200 that Obama used during his campaign was returned to service with NA.

NWA Brings Fighting Irish To HNL

Northwest Airlines brought the Notre Dame University Fighting Irish football team to Honolulu for the Sheraton Hawai‘i Bowl that will be played on Christmas Eve at Aloha Stadium, and aired on ESPN (20:00EST). The Fighting Irish will be facing the University of Hawai‘i Warriors, who will be the visiting team yet playing on their home field.

NWA9971, a 747-400, left SBN (South Bend, IN) last night at 19:19EST, and flew to LAX for a two-hour fuel stop, before arriving at HNL this morning at 00:51HST.

Go Warriors!!!

Lion Air PK-LFS

Lion Air International is taking delivery of their next 737-9GPER, PK-LFS. It made an evening tech-stop at HNL last night arriving at 2200HST, and actually staying longer to 0600HST to leave for MAJ then BIK.

Sorry, no HNL photo, but Drewski2112 got this snowy one at BFI.

Delta 747-400

Does NWA operate any -400's through HNL? N665US Delta livery - Airliners and JetPhotos.

N826TH

An MD-87, N826TH (c/n 53039), made a tech stop at HNL last night, on its way to GYR. It was the former JAL JA8370. JAL is retiring their MD80 series fleet as more 737-846(W)s are delivered.

It was originally delivered to Japan Air System (JAS), and transferred over to JAL after the merger, and painted in the current livery.

Ex-TACA A320, N206CT

A former TACA A320-233 (ex-EI-TAC), s/n 1676, now registered to Wells Fargo Bank as N206CT, arrived at HNL from OAK on 11 December and departed for Majuro on 12 December, apparently on a delivery flight. The aircraft is painted pure white with no markings other than the registration number.

Britannia 767-304ER

In today's pre-RareBird blog post, we have a Britannia 767-304ER, G-OBYF. This RareBird stopped over in HNL back on March 16, 2005 and arrived from PPT. They then headed off to YVR after a couple of hours. This was probably one of the last pictures of this aircraft in Britannia colors. Just eight days later, a picture of G-OBYF shows the aircraft wearing Thomsonfly colors.

Where's N748AL ?

We came across this 737-76N(W) shot while looking for something else on an alternate drive. Anyone know where the Wyland plane (c/n 30050)  is now ? 

Another 732C In Aloha Air Cargo's New Livery

The next Aloha Air Cargo painted in the new livery is N841AL, a 737-2X6. This aircraft was aquired by the former Aloha Airlines from Alaska Airlines back in 2007, as reported on this blog in June 2007. The aircraft started service in 1984 with MarkAir and then went to Alaska in 1994.

http://hnlrarebirds.blogspot.com/2007/06/alohas-n841al.html

Picture to follow

Aloha Name Sale Halted ... For Now

A federal bankruptcy court judge postponed the sale of the Aloha Airlines name and intellectual property to the Mesa Air Group ...

Honolulu Advertiser coverage ...

"Down The Rabbit Hole"

I am posting excerpts of a letter / commentary that was sent to me regarding the Mesa / Yucaipa / Aloha debacle. I was given permission by the author to print all (or part) of this letter.
(Again ... the comments expressed below belong to the person writing the commentary, and may not reflect the HNL RareBirds team)

"Why is it that a simple line pilot who barely graduated from high school could read Ornstein's game perfectly and (if not for Mark Dunkerly) became the only person who got to stand the line against the sociopath and prevail. I showed AQ management how easy it was to beat the little liar down. I had basically no resources except the other pilots who also saw down the rabbit hole with me and generously helped support my legal fees. (You also who gave, I did not forget, thank you). Whatever insight I had into the way this would play out came and went, in the end I was betrayed just like all my other fellow employees.

"In early March 2008, those of us who could see past the wizard's curtain were all celebrating because many of us believed that Ornstein had finally run his course. The arrival of the "Casper" (all white paint) CRJ's was a clear indication that JO had psychologically given up on the go! brand. The fancy go! paint jobs on the 4 bravo romeo "blue ridge" (Former FlyI planes) were headed back to the lessors because of high payments and low revenue.

"In late March when Banmiller announced we were shutting down, the casper planes quickly became additions instead of replacements. The timing was suspicious (maybe the rabbit hole goes down further than I thought) but I have to believe our demise was as much of a surprise to JO as it was to the rest of us.

"On March 31st 2008, Mesa was literally days away from shutting down go! themselves when we shut down Aloha instead. Hawaii was handed to Mesa on a silver platter.

"Now, fast forward six months... Mesa did not bring out CRJ 900's to Hawaii as promised, all of Mesa is about ready to shut down completely. Come this January 2009, Mesa's convertible notes come due, another round of notes are due in February. These two events were certain to wipe Mesa off the face of the earth FINALLY. Who wants to wager that JO now becomes successful in delaying those payments and now survives to terrorize another airline another day? Ron Burkle has in effect changed the future of the airline industry / empire (or did he ensure the future / same difference) by breathing life back into this lecherous cancer?

"The fall of Aloha and the survival of Mesa have changed the future of the airline industry. Billions more will be made (transferred, stolen) by the further raping and pillaging of the airline industry in the next round of takeovers. Aloha's employees' sacrifice to save our airline, preserve the industry and shut down Mesa was a valiant one, but ultimately ended in Vain. At least Hawaiian and Mark Dunkerly did not play the "Blame Mesa" game with the Hawaiian employees like Aloha did. Furthermore, Hawaiian has been very kind to the former Aloha employees. Hawaiian may once again come to the rescue if / when they out bid Yucaipa and gain the rights to Aloha's trademarks.

"At the end of March 2008, when we re-entered the bankruptcy court in Honolulu, we all saw the truckloads of paperwork presented to the court with our own eyes. It is clear that our demise was not only scripted but had been in preparation for much longer than the last two weeks of March. There was enough paperwork in that courtroom to keep a legion of lawyers nice and fat for several years. In the courtroom bleachers sat no other Aloha management except for Thom Nulty. He had the familiar look of pain and suffering that the rest of us all know very well. The demise of Aloha was all premeditated and scripted before the fact, but I am convinced Thom was NOT in that deep.

"The fact today is Yucaipa settling with Mesa for a measly $2million AND leasing them the rights to the Aloha name is not a conspiracy theory, this is bragging about their complicity publicly and arrogantly proclaiming there is nothing anybody on Earth can do about it.

"I urge the former Aloha employees to continue to focus on moving along and the creating a new future for ourselves. Airline politics in Hawaii will always be there. Hopefully without Ornstein after this January. Yucaipa betrayed us eight months ago, the only difference today is just that now it's finally clear to see. It's time to move on gang, today more than ever before. One day the truth will come out and be made public. For now, just let it go."

Mesa Buys Aloha Name Rights

Mesa Air Group has settled with the Yucaipa Company, former Aloha Airlines' owners, that would allow Mesa to use the Aloha Airlines brand. The deal comes as part of a measly $2million settlement of the suit Aloha had before its demise, last March.

The Honolulu Advertiser's coverage ...

All I can say, is that Rudy Tongg must be rolling in his grave! And ... a lot of former AQ employees must be upset over these series of events. I knew someone was going to buy the name rights and intellectual property of AQ, but I didn't expect Mesa to do it. For Mesa to do something like that, is like killing a person, then assuming their identity. ‘Auwe!

Ex-Aloha N835AL

N835AL flew from Mojave (KMHV) to San Jose Juan Santamaria International (MROC) in Costa Rica yesterday.

Air China's B-2643

Today's HNL RareBirds Classic goes back to 1999, when Air China took delivery of B-2643 (c/n 29878), a 737-89L. It was part of the first batch of "Next Generation" 737s that CA ordered. As of 2007, B-2643 still has its registration painted on the tail. Later deliveries have their registration painted above the rear passenger windows.

B-2643 is seen above taxiing to Runway 8R on Taxiway RT, headed for MAJ on the next leg of its island hopping delivery flight.

Mokulele Airlines - Day One

Mokulele Airlines (MW/TCF) made its E170 inter-island jet service debut early this morning with flights to KOA and LIH with both N868RW and N869RW flying.

N869RW (msn 17000133), seen above, taxies to Gate 50 as TCF206, arriving from LIH.

I was booked on the next flight to LIH, TCF209 / TCF214, which was the media flight, though the only other media there was a photographer from the Star*Bulletin, and videographer and reporter from KHON2.

Pacific Wings to Georgia Skies

Here's one of Pacific Wings' Cessna 208 Caravans in the new Georgia Skies livery shortly before it left the islands on November 4th, on a ferry flight HNL - OAK - VGT - TUL - AHN. Pacific Wings was awarded an Essential Air Service Contract in June 2008 to provide service between Atlanta-Hartsfield, Macon, and Athens, Georgia.

Virgin Blue E-190 VHZP?

A Virgin Blue Embraer 190 landed at HNL on a cloudy November 17th on its way to Australia. Delivery flights had been staging through LIH, but this one arrived at HNL, met by a platoon of firetrucks. After the uneventful landing about 4:05 PM, the fire crews quickly lost interest. I don't know what kind of problem they had. I also couldn't get a clear view of the registration letters.

The 2nd Mokulele E170 Arrives

The second E170 has arrived from Republic with the registration N869RW. It is parked at Gate 49 right next to N868RW. N869RW arrived on Saturday, Nov 15 as TCF9400 and followed the same route as N868RW. Service between HNL-LIH/KOA will be staring in 3 days (Nov 19).

HA 717-200, N489HA

The next ex-QantasLink 717-26R is now flying with HA. N489HA, Po`ouli, has been in the fleet for a few week now, but only now I was able to take a picture. While flying with QantasLink, this 717 was registered VH-NXB.

It's pretty easy to tell the new additions to the fleet as the tails are not faded. Two added to the fleet, two more to go.

Aloha Air Cargo's N840AL Unveiled

Adhering to a request from Aloha Air Cargo (KH/AAH), here are two shots I got from the official unveiling on October 15th.

N840AL (c/n 23124), a 737-2X6C, was named "Ho‘omaka‘ana Hou" (Hawaiian for "New Beginning") was unveiled to Aloha Air Cargo employees, family, business partners, and the media in a gala presentation set in the KH hangar. The new colors also represents a new corporate identity for the cargo division of the former Aloha Airlines (AQ).

The top photo shows the new livery in its entirety, anf the above photo shows the new tail logo, which may feature different colors on the subsequent re-branding of the other four 737-200Cs in the KH fleet.

ANA 747-200, JA8174

For today's edition of a pre-blog classic, here's a 747-281B from ANA. This aircraft operated as an extra section flight during the end of the New Year's period back in 2005. Here it is parked at Gate 17 in the Centre Concourse instead of the Ewa or Diamond Head Concourses.

ANA retired all their classic 747s in Fiscal Year 2005, with the last flight being in March 2006.

First Republic E170 for Mokulele

The first E170 from Republic arrived in HNL for Mokulele. Registration of this aircraft is N868RW. They flew this aircraft IND-GTF-ANC-ADK-MDY-HNL. Apparently this route was taken because Republic didn't install any ferry tanks. The aircraft is currently parked at Gate 50. As you can see in the picture, the livery looks exactly like the picture on the Mokulele website with the only difference is the addition of the word "Kapalua" below the logo on the tail. The second E170 is also on its way to HNL on the same routing.

Qantas VH-EBU "Nalanji Dreaming"

As we wait for the deliveries from Boeing to begin again, here's another pre-blog rarebird for everyone. In late 2004, Qantas switched their schedule to arrive and depart HNL during the late morning instead of the middle of the night. This was most definately a response to Hawaiian's entry into the Australian market and their daytime flights. It was great to be able to see Qantas' 747-338s during the day.

In December of 2004, VH-EBU paid a visit to HNL. This aircraft featured an Aboriginal art livery and named "Nalanji Dreaming." A few months after visiting HNL, VH-EBU went to Avalon (AVV), Australia for maintenance. However, she never made it back out. She ended up having her lovely livery painted over and parted out.

Canadian Airlines' C-FCRE

Today's edition of HNL RareBirds Classic goes back to 1997, and Canadian Airlines' (CP/CDN) DC-10-30, C-FCRE (msn 47868), which bore the signatures of many Canadian Air employees, and was named "The Spirit of Canadian". It's seen above at Gate 26 between segments of the YVR-HNL-YVR flights.

Sadly, C-FCRE was broken up in 2002 as N305FV in the Arizona desert. It began life as I-DYND for Alitalia (AZ/AZA) in 1975. It also flew with Pakistan International Airlines (PK/PIA) as AP-BBL, then onto VASP (VP/VSP - Brazil) as PP-SON, before going to Canadian Airlines. CP was eventually acquired by Air Canada in 2001.

A CP Air (CP/CPC) 747-217B (c/n 20929) previously was registered C-FCRE. CP Air was the predecessor to Canadian Airlines.

Billabong Grumman SA-16A Albatross, N121FB

To celebrate the ratification of the new IAM contract with Boeing, here's a special rarebird that spent quite a bit of time at HNL. This Grumman SA-16A Albatross arrived in HNL in the middle of December 2005 to start a promotional surf tour sponsored by Billabong and Hawaiian Airlines. This aircraft kept in the maintenance hangar for about a week. It then was moved over to Elliott on Christmas Eve, where I took a special ride out to get this shot.

Billabong got this aircraft to do a special 2 year tour to find the best surf spots around the world. It actually spent a lot of time in HNL before leaving the state. I remember the aircraft still being at HNL, parked by the HCC aviation school on the South Ramp when I went on my trip in May 2006.

Strike At Boeing Ends

Striking Boeing machinists have ratified a new contract, and will return to assembly plants around the country, to resume aircraft assemblies and delveries.

Lufthansa Cargo MD-11F D-ALCB

A couple of years ago, Lufthansa Cargo used to fly a MD-11F between HNL and AKL as part of a codeshare with Air New Zealand. This flight was part of a round-the-world routing that passed through HNL 2 or 3 times a week. The flight usually just stopped over in HNL for a couple of hours before leaving. Here D-ALCB is seen taxiing out for takeoff back on October 31, 2004.

Hawaiian 767's Passing On Taxiways G And L

With HA parking more 767s at the Interisland Terminal, it was only a matter of time when I would see 2 767s would be passing each other on taxiways Golf and Lima. Well, that's what happened this past Saturday when N596HA was towed out and N591HA was coming in. The grass area between Golf and Lima is quite wide, but doesn't look it from a distance.

However, there is a fence along Golf that is really close to the taxiway. The wingtips won't hit the fence, but there is a light pole at the end of the taxiway that would cause some major damage if the aircraft was more than a few feet off the center line. The wingtip is probably 10-15 feet from the fence line.

I don't know why they did it, but 591 was not taxiing into a gate in the Interisland Terminal. In the first picture, the aircraft was stopped at that point even though there was more than enough space for it to taxi past 596. Holding an aircraft and blocking the taxiway to the interisland ramp didn't seem to be the best thing to do since they sat there for around 10 minutes. Apparently, 591 was holding for a gate in the Overseas side since after I took the second picture and turned off my camera, it made a u-turn at the end of Golf onto Lima. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that as it was quite cool to see it happen and the fact that the jet blast was deflected up and hit me in the face 3 stories up.

BTW, for those who haven't seen it, check out the new Aloha Air Cargo livery in the background. (Sorry, but it was just there.)

NW & DL Merger Finalized

The merger of Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines was completed when the federal government approved it this week. The merger will carry on the Delta name and branding, while the Northwest name and branding will fade away the same way Western Airlines did when Delta bought them in 1986.

What will this mean for Hawai‘i? Flights may be consolidated (LAX and SFO?), and we will begin to see NW aircraft in hybrid DL colors within a few months.

Guess we will get to see NW 744s and A333s in full DL colors within a year or so. Get you NW shots while you can!

Top photo: Delta's 767-432ER, N837MH (c/n 29710), is seen rotating from Runway 22L.

Above photo: Northwest's A330-323X, N805NW (msn 552) is seen at Gate 12 being readied for its return to NRT.

Japan Coast Guard's GV - JA500A

This ultra-long-range maritime search and surveillance GV variant was delivered to the Japan Coast Guard on January 17, 2005. Known as the “Umi Washi” (Sea Eagle), the aircraft is one of two, equipped with a Thales high performance maritime surveillance radar and FLIR system.

It dropped in to HNL this morning and after a quick visit by Customs was whisked into Castle & Cooke's hangar.

Garuda's MD-11

In the mid-90s, Garuda Indonesian Airlines (GA/GIA) used to fly to HNL from CGK as a re-fueling stop on its way to LAX, using MD-11s. The one seen above, is seen taxiing on Taxiway RT to Runway 26L. I don't remember which destination it was flying to, nor its flight number.

One of GA's MD-11s was involved in a tail-strike while landing on Runway 4R, back in 1997. Late one evening, I was at home listening to my scanner, while having a cigarette on my lanai, I watched flights make their over-water approach for 4R. A GA flight was cleared to land, and made a normal final. However, the pilot requested to go around, and immediately throttled up to gain altitude. The MD-11 made a wide right turn that overflew my building before heading back out over the ocean for another try at landing. The pilot reported to the controller after the second landing, that there was a tail-strike on the first attempt. That MD-11 was parked on the south ramp, next to the CO hangar, for almost three weeks while technicians and mechanincs from McDonnell-Douglas inspected the bird. Scaffolding was erected around the rear section of the fuselage, and tarp was placed over the damaged section. The wounded bird was eventually ferried to LGB for repairs.

JTA's JA8954

Today's HNL RareBirds Classic features JTA, Japan TransOcean Air (NU/JTA), it is a subsidiary of Japan Airlines, that is a regional carrier based in Naha, Okinawa, and serves the southwestern region of Japan. Before being acquired by JAL, JTA was known as Southwest Air Lines, and is not to be confused with USA's Southwest Airlines (WN/SWA), though both operate an all-737 fleet.

JTA's JA8954 (c/n 24130), a 737-4K5, seen above in front of the Circle Rainbow Aviation hangar, on its delivery flight. It remains with JTA and flies in the current JTA/JAL colors. JA8954 was orignally delivered to Hapag-Lloyd (Germany) as D-AHLQ in 1990, then sold to JTA in 1998.

JAL MD-11 JA8582

This pre-RareBird blog post features an MD-11 from JAL. This photo from September 24, 2004 as one of the few times that JAL has flown the MD-11 to HNL. This also happened to be the last time JAL used the MD-11 to HNL.

The MD-11 has had performance issues and as a result, poor sales for the passenger version and a short service life as a passenger aircraft with most airlines. This has also meant that very few have visited HNL from the carriers that have operated the passenger versions, which is a big turn around from all the airlines that have used the DC-10 to HNL.

China Yunnan's B-2640

Today's HNL RareBird Classic goes back to 1998, when China Yunnan Airlines (3Q/CYH) took delivery of B-2640 (c/n 29913), a 737-7W0. It's seen here being readied for departure on the 8L side of the south ramp.

China Yunnan Airlines was taken over by China Eastern Airlines in 2003, and B-2640 wears the MU colors.

Saudi Arabian Royal Flight's HZ-HM5

Dating back to 1994, is today's HNL RareBird Classic, a Saudi Arabian Royal Flight L-1011-385-3 "TriStar 500", HZ-HM5 (msn 193G-1250). This TriStar was used by the Royal Saudi Family, and it spent several days on the HNL south ramp. It's seen above wearing the classic Saudia (SV/SVA) colors, and has been re-painted in the current colors.

A few years after this photo was taken, other Saudia airliners have been seen at HNL, once there were a pair of SV 747-300s, along with a Gulfstream G-IV, and a Lockheed L-100 "Hercules", occupying HNL's south ramp. The 743s were actually parked on Taxiway F parallel to Runway 4L (similar to the AQ parkings in March). In August 2006, an SV 777-200 was at HNL for a few days.

F-16s in HNL

Took this slightly blurry shot while taxiing for the "Reef Runway", on the morning of 24 Oct.

JAL 50th Anniversary Livery

This pre-blog classic, features one of JAL's 747-400s, JA8906. Back in February 2, 2004, JAL celebrated its 50th anniversary of international flying. To commerate, JAL had a special livery which consisted of a full size decal of the aircraft that flew that flight, the DC-6B, as well as a special Hawaii decal. They also flew a special charter flight from HND to HNL on that day as well as a special tour flight around Oahu. Even with the Hawaii decals, JA8906 was never a regular visitor to HNL during the time it wore this special livery. JA8906 no longer carriers passengers as it has been converted to a 747-400BCF and flies with JAL Cargo titles.

(The pictures above were taken on August 25, 2004)

China Southwest's B-2856

Today's edition of HNL RareBirds Classics is a China Southwest Airlines (SZ/CXN) 757-2Z0, B-2856 (c/n 29793), that's seen above when it made its stop over at HNL during its delivery flight from BFI.

In 2002, Air China acquired China Southwest, and in mid-2004, B-2856 received its CA colors.

B-2856 was also leased to Royal Nepal Airlines, but the China Southwest livery was kept, with only a change of titles.

Ex-Singapore A310

In today's pre-HNL RareBird blog post (I'm leaving the classic title to Bluewave since my pictures only date from 2004)...Back at the end of March 2004, an ex-SQ A310 stopped over on its way to the mainland. It had all its titles painted over. Sorry, I couldn't see the registration as I was in the middle of working a flight and it wasn't clear enough to make out on my 2MP camera.

Hainan Airlines 767-300ER

A Hainan Airlines 767-300ER made a stop at HNL from HAK/ZJHK (Haikou, China). Not sure where this 763 is headed.

Sorry, no HNL photo available ...

This the 600th post for the HNL RareBirds blog.

China Xinjiang's B-2851

Today's edition of HNL RareBirds Classics is a China Xinjiang Airlines (XO/CXJ) 757-28S, B-2851 (c/n 29215), which is made its HNL stopover on its delivery flight.

China Xinjiang was bought out by China Southern Airlines in 2003, and B-2851 currently wears CZ colors.

ANA's Pokemon Jet

This pre-HNL Rarebird blog post features ANA's International Pokemon Jet, JA8962, a 747-481. This aircraft visited HNL on January 22, 2004 and was an extra section flight. I was lucky enough to be working outside and at the next gate when it landed and taxied in. Starting from the nose is Jigglypuff, Pikachu, Psyduck, Squirtle, and Blubasaur. The other side features different Pokemon with Pikachu.

ANA had 4 aircraft wearing 4 different Pokemon liveries. 2 747-400Ds and 1 767-300 for domestic routes, and 1 747-400 for international routes. JA8962 no longer wears this livery.

Hainan's B-2576

Today's HNL RareBird Classic is B-2576, a Hainan Airlines 737-44P (c/n 29915), that was delivered in April 1999. It's seen above on the Circle Rainbow Air ramp in the Plum Blossom special livery. As of May 2008, B-2576 is still in this livery.

Note the tail of a Mahalo Airlines F-27A that had been parked there for quite a while, before being ferried to the mainland, after Mahalo had shutdown.

JAL's 15th 737-846

After a long delay due to the Boeing strike, JAL is finally taking delivery of it's 15th 737-846. JA315J arrived in HNL on October 17 and left for MAJ on October 18. This aircraft is wearing Japan Airlines titles.

China Airlines Special Livery A330-302

Today, CI's flight was operated by B-18311, which is in a special livery called "Fruit Sweet." This livery features various fruits and the word "Sweet" on the rear half fuselage.

Sorry, no picture of it in HNL, but here's a link to airliners.net with pictures of B-18311 in this livery.

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=B-18311&distinct_entry=true

Korean Air 777-3B5 HL7533

Here's a RareBird Classic from my files. Korean used to fly their 777-3B5's on their ICN-HNL flight twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays). This is HL7533 back in January 2004. I don't exactly remember when Korean stopped using the 777-300 on this route, but want to say that it was in mid to late 2005 as I have a picture of HL7573 and HL7714 from April 2005.

China Airlines' B-18601

Today's edition of HNL RareBirds Classic features China Airlines' 737-809, B-18601 (c/n 28402). It's seen above resting at HNL's south side during its delivery flight from BFI.

From November 2000 to October 2001, B-18601 flew with China's subsidiary, Mandarin Airlines.

In 2006, B-18601 received a set of Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglets.

Aloha Air Cargo Unveils New Look

Aloha Air Cargo has revealed their new corporate image with N840AL being the first to receive the new colors. The new look was unveiled before the employees, corporate partners, and the media in the Aloha hangar.

Because I was an invited guest, I am precluded from posting any of the event photos for 30 days ... and they are asking the same for my fellow Hawai‘i photographers.

Mokulele Formally Announces Expansion

Representatives from Mokulele Airlines and Republic Airways announced today, of their new inter-island venture using Embraer ERJ-170s.

The Honolulu Advertiser's coverage the Mokulele announcement.

Good to hear that quite a number of former AQ employees were hired!

Hainan's N574GE

In this edition of HNL RareBirds Classic, we return to 1998, when Hainan Airlines took delivery of N574GE, which was re-registered as B-2636 (c/n 28574), a 737-86N, that was leased from GECAS. B-2636 still wears the colors above, and has yet to receive the current red and yellow Hainan colors.

Note the Hawaiian Air DC-9-50 departing Runway 8L behind N574GE's tail, and the Continental Airlines DC-10-30 parked on the north ramp hardstands in the background right of the nose. N574GE was parked in the area now occupied by Nui Air.

Mandarin Airlines' B-1862

Todays' HNL RareBirds Classic is Manadarin Airlines' 747SP-09, B-1862 (c/n 21300), which is seen above at Gate 24. This photo was taken in 1996, when we could spot in the terminal. Mandarin Airlines (AE / MDA) is a subsidiary of China Airlines.

21300 has also served with China Airlines, Air Gulf Falcon (QL / GLN - Swaziland), and Kinshasa Airways (KNS - Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Icelandair 757

An Icelandair 757 visited HNL today, October 11, for a fuel stop. This aircraft is being used on an around-the-world tour for Abercrombie & Kent. The tour started in LAX and arrived in HNL as ICE1440. The flight arrived around 12:45 and was scheduled to leave around 14:00 for PPT. However, it looks like it left around 16:20. Not sure of the registration, but apparently the fuselage is all-white with Abercrombie & Kent titles and the tail is a dark blue with a white "&".

Sorry, but no pictures of it in HNL.

Details of the tour can be found here:
http://www.abercrombiekent.com/index.cfm?navid=4.13.11&tab=4

Shenzhen's B-2633

As promised, I will be posting some classic HNL RareBirds shots from my film camera days (my Canon point-n-shoot).

This one dates to ten years ago this month, when Shenzhen Airlines took delivery of B-2633 (c/n 29190), a 737-79K. It's seen above parked fronting the former Circle Rainbow Air (now Castle & Cooke Aviation) building.

Ten years later, B-2633 is still with Shenzhen, and now wears the current red and gold Shenzhen colors.

Republic Airways / Mokulele Partnership?

Updating yesterday's post ....

The Honolulu Advertiser reports that Republic Airways and KOA-based Mokulele AIrlines will be forming a partnership where Republic will supply flight and cabin crews, and the ERJ-170s to compete against go! and Hawaiian Air.

Shuttle America To Serve Hawai‘i?

Regional carrier Shuttle America (S5 / TCF - Windsor Locks, CT) is proposing inter-island service here in Hawai‘i. On the Airliners.net Civil Aviation Forum, there is a thread series entitled Shuttle America In Hawai‘i?". The formal annoucement is expected in a week, or so. A copy of their formal letter to employees is posted on Reply #30. They are choosing to use Embraer ERJ-170s on this proposed inter-island operation.

Will update this as it develops ... This is news to me, and will definitely check my sources around town.


Shuttle America's fleet info from PlaneSpotters.net

Shuttle America flies the Embraer ERJ-170 for United Express and Delta Connection, and is a subsidiary of Republic Airways, Inc.

Picture of HA's "new" 717-22A

Here's the first of Hawaiian's "new" 717-200s, N483HA, `Anianiau. This aircraft isn't actually new to Hawaiian's fleet. A check of the FAA registry, shows this aircraft's serial number as 55128. If you look up this serial number in the airliners.net photo database, you will find this aircraft in Hawaiian's livery back in 2002-2003.

This aircraft was one of the two returned back to Boeing and had the same registration. It originally entered Hawaiian's fleet as N483HA, `Akiapola`au. In 2003, it was returned back to Boeing and then went to AirTran as N604AT. AirTran then returned the aircraft back to Boeing in August 2008 when the leased ended. Now, it is back with Hawaiian with the same registration, but a new name.

The next three 717s will be ex-QantasLink aircraft

Air Pacific To End HNL Service

Fiji's Air Pacific has announced that they will be terminating the NAN - HNL - YVR route (FJI820 / FJI821) at the end of November, citing rising fuel costs.

The Fiji Times coverage of this announcement.

In the above photo from 2005, Air Pacific's DQ-FJF (c/n 28878), a 737-7X2, is seen during its push back from Gate 29, to leave for YVR.