It's been a while since we have had an "HNL Blast From The Past"

Aloha Airlines took delivery of its first BAC-111 on April 16, 1966. Flying from London, the aircraft set two world records enroute to Honolulu. The BAC-111's served Aloha until the summer of 1969 when they were withdrawn in favor of the new Boeing 737 "Funbirds".

Military Movement

Whether it corresponds with North Korea's sabre-rattling or not is up for debate but Hickam has been a very busy place recently. A number of KC-135R tankers have arrived and departed from numerous bases on the mainland and 6 F-22 Raptors from Langley AFB, VA (tail code FF) were accompanied by another half dozen yesterday afternoon. 5 of the first 6 departed today around noon, with one left behind likely due to maintenance. 

The sight of a pair of C-2 Grayhounds coming and going over the past few days meant that a carrier was near. Yesterday, the 28th did indeed see an aircraft carrier steam into Pearl Harbor late in the morning with a deck full of F-18 E/F Super Hornets.

Also of note was a US Marine Corps C-130 that departed yesterday and returned not long after on the LDA approach, landing on runway 26 right with the #1 propeller feathered and crash-rescue trucks following them back to Hickam as a precaution. 

Sorry, no photos due to the poor weather conditions.

Xiamen's B-5456

Xiamen Airlines' newest 737-85C(W) is B-5456 (c/n 35054). It arrived from BFI as CXA5456 late this morning, and will overnight at HNL before continuing onto MAJ and SPN tomorrow. B-5456 is seen above on TaxiWay C, being led to its parking spot on the south ramp.

There's also a related photo on my Blue Wave Pix photo blog that I posted after the 737 parked.

Hainan's B-5466

Hainan Airlines is taking delivery of B-5466 (c/n 34034), a 737-84P(W). It arrived at HNL under voggy skies as B5466, and will continue across the Pacific tomorrow.

Aloha Air Cargo in Love's Bakery Livery

Earlier this week, N834AL, painted all white, was parked in the Aloha Air Cargo hangar. It was a little suspicious as the registration was in red instead of the normal dark blue. Here is a picture of what it looked like yesterday, May 27.


Well, the reason for this is that Aloha Air Cargo has applied a special livery to the starboard side of N834AL. In a ceremony earlier in the day, Aloha Air Cargo and Love's Bakery unveiled the livery to the public. Here's a picture of the livery taken after the aircraft was moved back into the hangar after the ceremony.


The Love's Bakery livery is only on the starboard side of the aircraft. The tail is painted red with the Love's name on its typical yellow background. The words "Hawaii's Fresh Express" are on the rear part of the fuselage with the iconic red and white checkerboard Love's logo on the front part. The engine is also painted red, with "Aloha Air Cargo" in white. The port side is painted in the new Aloha Air Cargo livery.

See another picture in the Honolulu Advertiser

Also Spotted ...

While working at Magic Island on the Lantern Floating broadcast crew, I also saw a Polet Flight An124-100, and a white tail 737-800(W) make finals for Runway 26L. For most of the day the traffic pattern were Kona Winds, until the late afternoon.

China Eastern's B-5255

China Eastern Airlines is taking delivery of B-5255 (c/n 36757), a 737-79P(W), and is flying as CES299.

Lion Air's PK-LFZ

Lion AIr International has taken delivery of its second 737-9GPER(W) this month, PK-LFZ (c/n 35726). As usual, it just stopped briefly for fuel before continuing onto MAJ earlier today

Sorry, no HNL photo, but BFIGuy got this shot at BFI.

Plan To License Aloha Airlines Brand Denied

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King has basically blocked Yucaipa from bidding on the auction of the Aloha Airlines intellectual property. Yucaipa planned to license the Aloha Airlines brand to Mesa, who was then going to re-brand go! as Aloha Airlines as part of the settlement of the lawsuit originally filed by Aloha in 2005 and bought by Yucaipa . In his ruling, Judge King considered Mesa as a co-purchaser with Yucaipa due to the lawsuit settlement.

See the articles from the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star Bulletin links for more information.

N770BB

N770BB (c/n 25220), a 757-2J4(W), owned by Yucaipa Companies LLC (Burbank, CA) is town. It's configured as a business jet. N770BB was previously registered as OY-SHB with Sterling Airlines, and VR-CAU with Diamond Aviation Services.

Shenzhen's B-5412

Shenzhen Airlines' is taking delivery of B-5412 (c/n 35533), a 737-87L(W). It arrived early this morning at HNL from BFI as CSZ909, and is their second delivery flight this week.

Sorry for the backside shot, but this was the way this bird was parked, and the best shot I could get, though Drewski2112 got a better shot of B-5412 at BFI.

Lion Air's PK-LFY

Lion Air International is taking delivery of their newest 737-9GER(W), PK-LFY (c/n 35725), and is routed as LNI1. It's parked on the AirService Hawaii ramp, and scheduled to leave later this evening.

Sorry for the poor quality, as the picture was taken from the North Ramp using the full digital zoom.

Shenzhen's B-5413

Shenzhen Airlines is taking delivery of B-5413 (c/n 35535), a 737-87L(W), today and is routed as CSZ908. It parked on the north ramp hardstands.


Mahalo to Ha763 for the photo!

Air China's B-5425

Air China's next 737-89L(W), B-5425 (c/n 36743), is delivering as CCA58 today. It parked on the north ramp hardstands as well.


Mahalo to Ha763 for the photo!

N164CG

N164CG, an ex-SriLankan A320-231, transited through HNL today. While with SriLankan, it was registered as 4R-ABF (msn 164), is returning to its lessor Wells Fargo. It's routing, tracked on flightaware.com, is MNL-GUM-MAJ-HNL-VCV.

This A320 has also flown with Airtours International as G-DJAR, and was originally delivered to Saarland OY-CNE.

Three Aloha Air Cargo A/C now in new livery

Aloha Air Cargo now has three of their aircraft in the new livery. The latest to get the new livery is N826AL. From left to right is N826AL, N840AL, and N841AL.



***Editor's Note***
This is the 700th HNL RareBirds blog posting!

Hainan's B-5467

Hainan Airlines is taking delivery of B-5467 (c/n 36779), a 737-84P(W). It arrived yesterday, and will be leaving for MAJ this morning.

Sorry, no HNL photo, but Drewski2112 got a shot of it at BFI.

Skymark's JA737U

Skymark Airlines' newest 737-8F2(W), JA737U (c/n 29680) arrived last night from BFI on its delivery flight as SKY737U. It's scheduled to leave later today for SPN, then Japan.

Sorry, no HNL photo, but Drewski2112 got it at BFI.