N587CA Sold And Ferried

TransAir has sold their CV640F, N587CA (msn 463) to Frontera Flight Holdings (Dover, DE). The transfer was effective on March 23rd, and the propliner was ferried to VGT [North Las Vegas Airport, Las Vegas, NV] earlier today.


04.01.15 Update
Skyliner-Aviation.de reports that N587CA is bound for Aeronaves TSM [VTM] (México), it's Mexican registry is pending. It has not been stated whether this is a lease, or sale to Aeronaves TSM.

Hainan's B-1796

Hainan Airlines is taking delivery of B-1796 (c/n 41569, l/n 5331) today. The 737-84P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CHH1796, and will overnight at HNL.

China Southern's B-1748

China Southern Airlines is taking delivery of B-1748 (c/n 41328, l/n 5334) today. The 737-81B, leased from Air Lease, is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSN996, and will overnight at HNL.

Air China's B-1762

Air China is taking delivery of their second 737-89L in as many days with B-1762 (c/n 41103, l/n 5333). It's making its delivery flight from BFI as CCA78, and will overnight at HNL.

Garuda's PK-GNR

Garuda Indonesia is taking delivery of PK-GNR (c/n 39955, l/n 5335) today. The 737-8U3, leased from SMBC Aviation Capital, is making its delivery flight from BFI as GIA8011, and will make a brief fuel stop at HNL, before continuing onto TKK.

HNL's Taxiway Z Resurfacing

HNL's Taxiway Z will be undergoing resurfacing over the next five weeks. As a result, portions will be closed where the work is being done.

Further information in this Hawai‘i Department of Transportation press release.

Air China's B-1766

Air China is taking delivery of B-1766 (c/n 41108, l/n 5327) today. The 737-89L is making its delivery flight from BFI as CCA78, and will overnight at HNL.

Germanwings' D-AIPX Accident

The HNL RareBirds team expresses our condolences, thoughts and prayers to the families of the 150 passenger and crew that were aboard Germanwings [4U/GWI] flight 9525. Their A320-211, D-AIPX (msn 147) went down in the French Alps today.

Further details in coverage by the Aviation Herald.

Jin Air To Begin ICN-HNL Service

CH-Aviation reports that Jin Air [LJ/JNA] (Korea), the low-cost carrier subsidiary of Korean Air, will begin international service in December, and one of the flights will be ICN-HNL. Jin Air is leasing a 777-200ER from Korean Air. It's not known the frequency of the service, but this will add about 300 passengers per flight to the growing Korean tourist market in Hawai‘i.

Shenzhen's B-1757

Shenzhen Airlines is taking delivery of B-1757 (c/n 40824, l/n 5326) today. The 737-87L is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSZ757, and will overnight at HNL.

GainJet Aviation's SX-RFA

On the KOA ramp 03/19/15

GainJet Aviation's [GNJ] (Greece) 757-23N, SX-RFA (c/n 30232, l/n 888) is making a stop at KOA from LAX as GNJ47. The flight originated somewhere in Europe, then made a stop at YQX prior to LAX. GainJet Aviation S.A. is a Greek private charter company. It was substituted for the TAG Aviation / Four Seasons Resorts 757-200 that was supposed to have flown the Four Seasons Resorts "Private Jet Experience".

30232 was originally ordered by Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, and leased to American Trans Air in September 1999 as N523AT. It was returned to WFBN in April 2005, then sold to Fastway Leasing Ltd, in December as EI-LTO. In April 2006, it was leased VIM Airlines [NN/MOV] (Russia) as EI-LTO, then subleased to Air Bashkortostan [ZU/BBT] (Russia) for two years. In April 2009, Castaway Leasing sold the 757-23N to GainJet Aviation as SX-RFA, complete with Blended Winglets and a 62-seat VIP layout.

Hainan's B-1787

Hainan Airlines is taking delivery of their second 737-84P in as many days with B-1787 (c/n 41379, l/n 5277). It's making its delivery flight from BFI as CHH1787, and will overnight at HNL.

Hainan's B-1785

Hainan Airlines is taking delivery of B-1785 (c/n 41568, l/n 5308) today. The 737-84P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CHH1785, and will overnight at HNL.

Conair's N355AC

Conner's firefighting RJ85, N355AC (msn E2293), is returning to CYXX [Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada] after its stint in Australia. It stopped through HNL in December 2014 on its way Down Under.

Virgin Australia's VH-ZPR Returns

Virgin Australia's E-190 VH-ZPR "Dundee Beach" (msn 190000424) is returning to Australia, after its maintenance check at BNA. It's stopping off at HNL from VNY, and will continue onto APW tomorrow. VH-ZPR stopped at HNL on 11 February, on its way to BNA.

Mahalo to team member Lono68 for the photo.

Xiamen's B-1966

Xiamen Air is taking delivery of B-1966 (c/n 39910, l/n 5321) today. The 737-85C is making its delivery flight from BFI as CXA1966, and will overnight at HNL.

Batik's PK-LBZ

The second of the two Batik Air 737-8GP deliveries is PK-LBZ (c/n 39835, l/n 5307). It's also making an early morning delivery flight from BFI as BTK1, and will make a brief fuel stop at HNL.

Mahalo to team member AndrewC for the photo.

Batik's PK-LDE

Batik Air is taking delivery of a pair of 737-8GPs this morning. PK-LDE (c/n 39836, l/n 5315) is the first of the two, making its delivery flight from BFI as PKLDE, and will make a brief fuel stop at HNL.

Mahalo to team member AndrewC for the photo.

Coulson's N130FF

Coulson's firefighting EC-130Q is making its way back to YYJ [Victoria, British Columbia, Canada] after spending a few months in Australia supporting the local firefighting effort. N130FF (msn 382-4901) transited through HNL this past December on its way to Australia.

Aeroméxico To HNL?

The Pacific Business News reports that Aeroméxico [AM/AMX] is exploring the possibility of serving HNL from MEX [Benito Juárez International Airport, México City, México] , seasonally. It is in preliminary stages to see whether the service would be feasible, nor did the airline reveal which aircraft type it would use. Contrary to the article's claim that MEX is 320 miles closer to HNL than LAX, the Great Circle Mapper shows that HNL-LAX is 2221 nm, while MEX-HNL is 3299 nm.

Aeroméxico does have the aircraft to make the flight 3299 nm flight, with 787-8s, 777-200s, 767-300s and 767-200s. If it comes to pass, AMX would be the first airline from Latin America to serve HNL with direct service. The airline is also a member of the Skyteam Alliance.

United's N26952

United Airlines is ferrying one of their new 787-9s from LAX to HNL today. N26952 (c/n 36403, l/n 263, f/n 0952) is making the flight as UAL2070. It's not known if this is a proving run for future UAL 787 flights to HNL. N26952 was recently delivered to United last month, and is the airline's third of 16 787-9s ordered.

Mahalo to team members Aeros for the top photo and HNL Ramper for the above photo.

Shanghai's B-1741

Shanghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-1741 (c/n 39314, l/n 5312) today. The 737-86D is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSH577, and will overnight at HNL.

Shanghai's B-2858

Shanghai Airlines is ferrying B-2858 (c/n 33960, l/n 1045) from PVG (via SPN and HNL) to VCV. The 757-26D is making the flight as CSH2858, and arrived early this morning. It was acquired by Boeing Aircraft Holdings as N393BC, and is destined to join the Delta Air Lines fleet as N820DX (f/n 6820).

It was delivered to Shanghai in June 2004.

WestJet Announces Its First 767-300ER

According to CH-Aviation.com, WestJet Airlines revealed that a former Qantas 767-338ER, VH-OGJ (c/n 25274, l/n 396) will be their first wide-body airliner. This is the first of four 767-300ERs the Canadian airline will obtain to use for winter service between Alberta and Hawai‘i, and will replace the wet-lease agreement the airline had with Thomas Cook Airlines. It will be registered as C-FOGJ with WestJet.

25274 was delivered to Qantas Airways in October 1991, named "City of Port Macquarie". In October 2002, it was leased to Qantas' new subsidiary Australian Airlines [AO/AUZ], and was there for four years. It was returned to Qantas, then withdrawn from service in October 2014, and stored at VCV. It's currently undergoing maintenance and Blended Winglet installation in Louisiana.

Mokulele To Lease Out Three Caravans

CH-Aviation reports that Mokulele Airlines will wet-lease three of their Cessna C208B Grand Caravans to Sun Air Express (Fort Lauderdale, FL).

China Eastern's B-5828

China Eastern Airlines is taking delivery of B-5828 (c/n 39741, l/n 5306) today. The Yunnan Peacock-liveried 737-79P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CES599, and will overnight at HNL, before continuing onto PNI.

Virgin Australia's VH-YIY

Virgin Australia is taking delivery of VH-YIY "Stanwell Park" (c/n 40701, l/n 5280) this afternoon. The 737-8FE is making its delivery flight from BFI as VOZ9940, and will make an overnight stop at LIH.

Hawaiian Adds New Seats To 717 Fleet

Hawaiian Airlines announced today that they are in the process of retrofitting all of their 18 inter-island 717-200 fleet with new main cabin seats made by Acro Aircraft Seats (above photo), along with a new interior color palette.

Further information in this Hawaiian Airlines press release.

Alaska Launches KOA-SAN Service

Alaska Airlines launched thrice-weekly 737-890 service between KOA and SAN today with ASA806. The return segment, ASA823, also flies on the same day.

Further information in this Alaska Airlines press release.

Sun Country's N152SY

Our March edition of "HNL RareBirds Classic" goes back to May 1996, and this Sun Country Airlines DC-10-15, N152SY (c/n 48289, l/n 365) seen above on Taxiway RT returning to the main terminal after an in-flight emergency. This particular flight departed for LAX, but had to return as the main landing gear canted forward, and could not retract. The flight crew made a 500-foot high pass in front of the HNL control tower, along the Runway 8L path, to verify the position of the main landing gear. HNL ARFF trucks from HNL's Station 2, abeam Runway 8R, stood by as the DC-10 flew out to dump fuel before landing on the Reef Runway without incident.

For a short period of time in the mid-1990s, Sun Country had DC-10-10 service between HNL and LAX. The livery seen above is the one prior to the current blue livery.

48289 was originally delivered to Mexicana as N1003W "Tolteca" (f/n 982) in December 1981, and remained with the airline until late 1994. It wore a variety of Mexicana liveries, including the "Ixcamilpa" tail livery, and a dark blue tail section. It was leased to AeroPerú in 1993, from May to October. The Wilmington Trust Company acquired this DC-10-10 in January 1995, and leased it Sun Country as N152SY. It was withdrawn from service in September 2000, and stored at GWO [Greenwood, MS], where it was scrapped in June 2002.