Sayonara JAL 747s!

Today, Japan Airlines flew its last revenue 747-400 flight as JAL75 to NRT. The Honolulu Station held a send off celebration at Gate 27 for the 421 passengers and 20 crew who were aboard this historic flight. A banner was made by the HNL staff to commemorate the 40 years of service that the 747 flew for JAL, beginning with the 747-146 in July 1970 to today's final flight with the 747-446, JA8089 (c/n 26342, l/n 905).

A white, silver, and red balloon arch with a banner marking today's flights was put up right outside of Gates 27A and 27B, alongside a JAL 747-400 model adorned with lei.


Here is the arrival of JA8089 on 8L with thrust reversers still deployed.


Here is JA8089 taxiing in just before reaching Gate 27.


The aircraft had two special decals applied on the left side of the aircraft. The decal above was between the L1 and L2 doors.


The second special decal was placed next to the L1 and L2 doors. This decal invited the passengers to touch the aircraft.

Deplaning passengers and crew from JAL76 posed for pictures under the arch, as well as boarding passengers for JAL75. This passenger drew up his commemorative banner complete with every JAL 747-446 tail numbers.

Passengers were also invited to write messages on a poster that was at the gate entrance. This poster was then loaded on the aircraft so that it could be displayed on arrival at Narita.

A lei was placed over the front of JA8089 after it arrived from NRT, and was removed after it was pushed back on to Taxiway Z, and prior to engine start.

Just prior to pushback, a low-flying helicopter with photographers appeared behind JA8089. It was only 50 feet or so above the ground, flying lower than the top of the vertical stabilizer. The helicopter then went to the right side of the aircraft to take more pictures while waiting for the pushback. The helicopter followed JA8089 all the way to takeoff.

This was JAL75's departure from Runway 8R, with its main bogeys a few feet off the deck.

HNL RareBirds team member je89_w was one of the 421 passengers, team member Ha763 was on hand as well, and contributed photos to this post.


Mahalo to the JAL HNL Station for the invitation to this historic event!

Korean Airlines A330-200

Korean Airlines swapped out its regular 777-2B5ER for an A330-223 for its flight from Incheon, KAL54. HL8212 (c/n 1155) was delivered to Korean Airlines on 9-29-2010.

United Continental 767

Above is United's N673UA (c/n 29241, l/n 779) from Denver as UAL43. This was the first of the 767-322ERs to be receive new colors.

Lion Air's PK-LHO

Lion Air is taking delivery of its newest 737-9GPER today. PK-LHO (c/n 37278, l/n 3555) is making the flight from BFI to CGK (via HNL, MAJ, and BIK) as LNI1. It's seen above taxiing to its parking spot on the Castle & Cooke ramp for its fuel stop, after arriving from BFI.

China Southern's B-2251

One of China Southern's MD-90s, B-2251 (c/n 53524, l/n 2146), is making its way from PVG to MZJ (via MFM, SPN, HNL, and OAK) as CSN6999. It's on its way to join the Delta Air Lines fleet to become N954DN.

Photo courtesy GChung.

Continental's 767-200

Seen above is Continental's N69154 (c/n 30433, l/n 823) on its way to Hong Kong (HKG) to receive maintenance and probably new United titles. This ferry flight is being operated as COA3170. Continental's 767-224ERs are mainly used to serve Europe from the U.S. mainland.

Korean Airlines Skyteam 777

Korean Airlines Flight KAL53 from Incheon was operated by ship HL7733. This 777-2B5ER (c/n 34206, l/n 520) wears the Skyteam livery.

End of an era?

According to a post on Airliners.net, JAL's last two B747s, JA8088 and JA8087 will land at NRT on March 1, 2011. One will depart from HNL as flight JL075, on Feb 28 at 09:10hrs.

Hopefully one of us can "catch" the final flight as one of these birds climbs out. Is anyone aware of a special ceremony to mark this occasion?

Shandong's B-5560

Shandong Airlines is taking delivery of a GECAS-leased 737-86N today. B-5560 (c/n 38013, l/n 3560) is making its homecoming flight as CDG5560.

It's seen above taxiing to the AirService Hawai‘i ramp on Taxiway C after arriving from BFI. The 747-400 winglet is from a UPS cargo bird.

Fly Guam's N238AG

Fly Guam's first 737-4Y0, N238AG (c/n 23866, l/n 1589), is making its way from LAL (Lakeland Linder Regional Airport, Lakeland, FL) to GUM via LAS, OAK, and HNL. It's flying as SGB238A, with the 737 wet-leased from Sky King. The top photo shows N238AG after its arrival from OAK, and the above photo shows the reef fish on the tail logo.

23866 was originally delivered to Istanbul Airlines (on lease from Guinness Peat Aviation - GPA) as TC-ADA in October 1988. It then went to GECAS, where it was leased to China Xinhua Airlines as B-2969 in March 1996. Boullioun Aircraft Holding Company (BAHC) acquired 23866 in March 1998, and leased it to Cronus Airlines as SX-BGH, which was acquired by Aegean Airlines. In September 2009, Wells Fargo Bank purchased 23866, and leased to Sky King (5K/SGB, "Songbird").

Fly Guam is a new venture by Freedom Air (Agana, GU) that will provide service among the western Pacific islands.

***Update 02.26.11***
N238AG's flight number to MAJ changed to SGB100, and SGB200 to GUM.

Air New Zealand's ZK-OJQ

Air New Zealand is taking delivery of its new A320-232, ZK-OJQ (msn 4584). It's flying as ANZ6395, and arrived from LAX late this afternoon.

The flight routing for ANZ6395 is TLS-YQX-DEN-LAX-HNL-APW-AKL.

The above photo, courtesy of team member myoung0401, shows OJQ on Hardstand 3 just after arriving from LAX. The center photo, courtesy of team member Aeros, shows OJQ under early morning skies of the 24th. And the top photo shows OJQ departing Runway 8L for APW.

Volga-Dnepr's Il-76

A Volga-Dnepr Airlines Il-76TD-90VD arrived today as VDA4926 from San Deigo. The flight originated from KEF (Keflavik International Airport, Iceland). RA-76592 (c/n 2093422743, l/n 94-06) is currently en route to PPT (Faa'a International Airport, Papaete, Tahiti) at the time of this posting. In its cargo hold is from what I saw was at least one jet turbine.

RA-76592 also wears the 20th Anniversary logo on the tail. The Volga-Dnepr Il-76TD-90VDs are powered by Aviadvigatel PS90 engines, which have been Stage III approved globally, and this variant was specifically designed for VDA.

WestJet's N750NA

WestJet's N750NA (c/n 26277, l/n 658) made its first flight from YYC as WJA3008 today. The wet-leased 757-28A from North American Airlines, is operating flights from YYC to both HNL and OGG. It made the first flight to/from OGG on Wednesday.

N750NA is seen above rolling out on Runway 26L through the heat haze.

This above photo, courtesy of team member myoung0401, shows N750NA parked at Gate 14.

Qantas JetConnect's ZK-ZQF

The third of three Qantas JetConnect 737-838s that were on order, is making its delivery flight today from BFI. ZK-ZQF (c/n 34204, l/n 3552), named "Abel Tasman", is making its delivery flight as QFA6024.

ZK-ZQF is seen above departing from Runway 22L for NAN. Runway operations were switched to 22 & 26 about 30 minutes prior to ZQF's push back.

Xiamen's B-5563

Xiamen Airlines is taking delivery of a GECAS-leased 737-86N today. B-5563 (c/n 38012, l/n 3550) is making the flight from BFI as CXA5563.

Sorry, no HNL photo ...

United Suspends 757 Flights

Today, United Airlines has voluntarily suspended the use of all of its 96 757-222s, due to an issue with navigational software. Only the United 757s are affected, the 62 Continental 757-224s are exempt. According to FlightAware, so far, no flights in or out of Hawai‘i have been affected.

Qantas JetConnect's ZK-ZQE

Qantas JetConnect's second 737-838 landed at approximately 1600 as QFA6024 from BFI. ZK-ZQE (c/n 34185, l/n 3542) has been dubbed "William Pickering".

JAL's JA8538

Our February edition of "HNL RareBirds Classics" takes us to the Keahole-Kona International Airport, where this Japan Airlines' DC-10-40I, JA8538 (c/n 46974), offloads passengers and cargo from JAL70, their flight from NRT in a 2003 photo. I was in KOA for a Japanese TV shoot in January 2003, and saw this from the Aloha Airlines 737-200 we were on as we pulled into our gate. JA8538 is seen above on the KOA wide-body ramp.

After its retirement from the JAL fleet, JA8538 was purchased by Omega Tanker, and re-registered as N974VV. It is a frequent visitor to HNL, as it supports US Navy fighters, and it was most recently seen on 01.30.11 at HNL along with a pair of F/A-18F Super Hornets.

Up until October of last year, Japan Airlines had a daily flight from NRT to KOA, JAL70. The return segment, JAL79, made a stop at HNL. Service initially began with their 747-346s, then changed to the DC-10-40I, then finally to their 767-346ERs.

Hawaiian To Add Osaka Service

Hawaiian Airlines announced this morning that they will commence daily service between Honolulu and Kansai International Airport (Osaka, Japan) [KIX] on July 12. They will initially use their 767-300ERs, and transition to their A330-200s as more are delivered to the fleet. Hawaiian is awaiting approval by the Japanese government.

The HNL-KIX flight, HAL449, is scheduled leave HNL at 1410HST, and arrive in KIX at 1800JST (next day). The return flight, HAL450, is scheduled for a 2130JST departure, with a 1050HST arrival (same day).

Hawaiian will be competing against Japan Airlines and Delta Air Lines, each with a daily flight, on this route.

Pictured above, is Hawaiian's N581HA, "Manu o Kū" (c/n 28141), a 767-33AER, being towed to Gate 59.

The Hawaiian Air press release.

Volga-Dnepr An-124 at Hickam

We spotted this Volga-Dnepr Antonov An-124 at Hickam as we were landing on Runway 8L this morning. Registration obscured. It has titles commemorating 20 Years of An-124 operations. Similar to recent pictures of RA-82078. Aircraft departed Runway 8R at 1040L; mission unknown.

HNL-Bound JAL 767 Experiences Turbulence

A Honolulu-bound Japan Airlines flight, JAL74, encountered turbulence at FL330 (33,000 ft) on February 10, that resulted in three passengers and a flight attendant suffering injuries. JA603J (c/n 32888) was the 767-346ER involved, which resulted in assistance by the HNL ARFF. The aircraft was inspected, and made the return flight to NRT (JAL73).

According to Japanese press reports, yesterday morning's incident occurred at 0330JST, 0830HST, which would have put JAL74's location about 30 minutes prior to landing (distance unknown).

Coverage by Star*Advertiser, FlightGlobal, and Mainichi Daily News.

***Update***
As this incident occurred east of the International Date Line, and in the Hawaii time zone, the date of incident was February 10. It was reported as February 11 in Japan, because they are 19 hours ahead of Hawai‘i.

JAL Express JA336J

JAL Express' JA336J (c/n 40351, l/n 3543), is the latest 737-846 to join their fleet. Its flying as JAL8102, and arrived at HNL earlier this evening, and will depart tomorrow for MAJ.

JA336J is seen departing Runway 8R headed for MAJ.

Lion Air's PK-LHM

Lion Air's first 737-9GPER delivery for 2011 is PK-LHM (c/n 37277, l/n 3513). It made its fuel stop at HNL from BFI as LNI1. PK-LHM is seen above being towed through the narrow alleyway from the Castle & Cooke Aviation ramp, out to Taxiway C. It's headed for MAJ, its next stop along their island hopping delivery flight.

Prescott Support's L-100

Seen above is N3755P (c/n 382-5032) a L-100-30 (382G) of Prescott Support. This "Super Hercules" is seen here departing off 8L in crosswind conditions. Prescott Support flies out sized cargo for hire anywhere around the world and it has been speculated to also be a front company for the CIA.

Shanghai Airlines' B-5576

Shanghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-5576 (c/n 38011, l/n 3531) today, and is flying as CSN576. The GECAS-leased 737-86N was originally allocated to Shanghai's parent China Eastern Airlines.

B-5576 is seen above taxiing on Taxiway C to depart for MAJ.

Qantas JetConnect's ZK-ZQD

The first of three Qantas 737-838s on order, assigned its JetConnect (New Zealand) subsidiary, is scheduled for delivery today from BFI. ZK-ZQD (c/n 34203, l/n 3515), named "Sir Edmund Hillary", is flying from BFI as QFA6024. JetConnect has already has three 737-838s and four 737-476s.

Air China's B-5447

Air China's B-5447 (c/n 40015, l/n 3509), a 737-89L, is beginning its island hopping delivery flight today from BFI as CCA51. B-5447 also has the new Boeing Sky Interior.