Memorial Day

The HNL RareBirds team expresses a big mahalo to all of the American Armed Forces aviators (and all other troops) who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country and protecting our freedoms.

China United's B-7563

China United Airlines is taking delivery of B-7563 (c/n 61683, l/n 5928) today. The 737-89P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CUA7563, and will overnight at HNL.

Shanghai's B-7863

Shanghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-7863 (c/n 44389, l/n 5923) today. The 737-89P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSH9761, and will overnight at HNL.

SlikAir's 9V-MGP

SilkAir is taking delivery of 9V-MGP (c/n 44232, l/n 5924) today. The 737-8SA is making its delivery flight from RNT as SLK8880, and will overnight at KOA.

Air China's B-7598

Air China is taking delivery of B-7598 (c/n 60850, l/n 5920) today. The 737-89L, their second delivery in three days, is making its delivery flight from BFI as CCA79, and will overnight at HNL.

Xiamen's B-7560

Xiamen Air is taking delivery of B-7560 (c/n 43887, l/n 5875) today. The 737-85C is making its delivery flight from BFI as CXA7560, and will overnight at HNL.

Kamaka's N8CA

Kamaka Air has taken delivery of their third Cessna C208BF Caravan. N8CA (msn 208B2329) arrived on the 19th from SMX, after undergoing freighter conversion. Although freighter flooring was installed, there still are the anchor points for seats. The airline plans to keep the current livery, and add Kamaka Air titles.

Air China's B-7596

Air China is taking delivery of B-7596 (c/n 44913, l/n 5917) today. The 737-89L is making its delivery flight from BFI as CCA78, and will overnight at HNL.

Shandong's B-7568

Shandong Airlines is taking delivery of B-7568 (c/n 61316, l/n 5919) today. The 737-85N is makings delivery flight from BFI as CDG7568, and will overnight at HNL.

Beech 23 Ditches Off Mākaha

A Beech 23, N6697Y (msn M-2224), with two aboard, ditched about 30 yards from the shore of Mākaha Beach, about 11:30HST. Thankfully, there were no severe injuries were reported, though both were taken to a nearby medical center.

The above photo of N6697Y was taken in the late 1980s, from aviation.hawaii.gov.

Coverage by KHON 2 News.

Skydiving Plane Crashes At PAK, 5 Killed

N2007X (msn 18256107), a Cessna 182H, owned by D&J Air Adventures [Koloa, Kaua‘i], with five aboard crashed at PAK [Burns Field / Port Allen Airport, Hanapēpē, Kaua‘i] around 09:30HST. All five aboard perished. The aircraft, operated by Skydive Kauai, experienced engine trouble and a fire, and tried to return to PAK, but crashed short of the airport.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those lost in this accident.

Coverage by Hawaii News Now.

VietJet Orders 100 737 MAX 200s

VietJet [VJ/VJC] (Viet Nam) placed an order with Boeing today for 100 737 MAX 200s, with deliveries beginning in 2019. The MAX 200, a 200-seat high-density version of the MAX 8, has an extra door between the overwing exits and the aft door (similar to the -900ER).

We are not sure if these deliveries will stop through Hawai‘i, but there is a 50% chance that they will.

Further details in this Boeing MediaRoom press release.

China Eastern's B-7393

China Eastern Airlines is taking delivery of B-7393 (c/n 41490, l/n 5914) today. The 737-89P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CES9002, and will overnight at HNL.

Virgin Australia's VH-ZPH

Virgin Australia's E190, VH-ZPH "Honeymoon Cove" (msn 19000199), is making its maintenance ferry flight from BNE to BNA (via APW, HNL, and VNY) as VOZ9901, and will make its HNL stopover today.

Virgin Australia's VH-VOZ

Virgin Australia's VH-VOZ "Palm Beach" (c/n 35302, l/n 745) made a medical emergency stop at HNL early this morning. The 777-3ZGER, was flying from SYD to LAX as VOZ1, when the flight diverted to HNL. After the ill passenger was taken off, the flight continued to LAX.

Shanghai's B-7636

Shanghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-7636 (c/n 41586, l/n 5910) today. The 737-89P, their fourth delivery this month, is making its delivery flight from BFI as CHS9762, and will overnight at HNL.

Hainan's B-7175

Hainan Airlines is taking delivery of B-7175 (c/n 43414, l/n 5906) this morning. The 737-84P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CHH7175, and will overnight at HNL.

Shanghai's B-7637

Shanghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-7637 (c/n 42054, l/n 5904) today. The 737-89P is makings delivery flight from BFI as CSH9761, and will overnight at HNL. This is the airline's third 737-89P within the past 11 days.

Kingdom Holding's HZ-WBT7

Kingdom Holding's HZ-WBT7 (c/n 25880, l/n 926) made a visit to Honolulu from San Francisco on May 13th. The former Air China 747-4J6 then departed on the 15th to Shanghai.

Donghai's B-7100

Donghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-7100 (c/n 41810, l/n 5594) today. The 737-8Q8, leased from ILFC, is making its delivery flight from GYR as EPA291, and will overnight at HNL. B-7100 was ferried to GYR, and placed in storage, after it was built in September 2015; and held the registration of N418AR.

ZK-KFS

ZK-KFS (msn 277), a Convair CV-5800F, that was with Air Freight New Zealand [AFN], is making its ferry flight from PMR (Palmerston, New Zealand) to YLW (Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada). It's making stops at AKL, PPG, and HNL.

277 was originally delivered to the US Navy as an R4Y-1 in 1955 as BuNo 140994. It was re-classified as a VC-131F in 1962. In September 1986, it was retired from the USN, and sent to AMARC for storage. In November 1992, it was sent to the National Museum of National Aviation as N14094. In May 2001, it was acquired by Kelowna Flightcraft [KW/KFA] (Canada) as C-FKFS, and converted to the stretched CV-5800F variant, a few months later. In October 2004, it was ferried to AKL to join the Air Freight NZ fleet as ZK-KFS.

Hawaiian Awarded HND-KOA Route

The US Department of Transportation awarded Hawaiian Airlines its service between HND and KOA, with a deadline of 29 January 2017 to begin service.

Further details in this Hawaiian Airlines press release.

Thai Lion's HS-LUP

Thai Lion Air is taking delivery of HS-LUP (c/n 40062, l/n 5898). The 737-8GP is making its delivery flight from BFI as TLM1, and will make a brief fuel stop at HNL.

N954RF

N954RF (c/n 28533, l/n 471), a 777-212 owned by GMT Holdings, is ferrying from SIN to VCV, with a stop at HNL.

28533 was originally delivered to Singapore Airlines in March 2004 as 9V-SVO. In March 2005, it was sold to Mitsui Bussan Aerospace, and then leased back to Singapore Airlines. In June 2015, it was sold GMT Holdings, and was withdrawn from service in January 2016.

Hawaiian Purchases The Airport Center Building

Hawaiian Airlines announced today that they have purchased the Airport Center Building. The airline will move some of its corporate offices to the 14-story building, with a Wyland "Whaling Wall" mural on the Dimaond Head side wall, and on the ‘Ewa side wall.

Further details in this Hawaiian Airlines press release.

Air New Zealand Switches To The 787-9

Starting today, Air New Zealand will switch from their 767-319ERs to their 787-9s on their AKL-HNL service (ANZ10). ZK-NZE (c/n 34334, l/n 169), the "All-Blacks" special-liveried 787, will make the first flight.

The airline also switched from late night service at HNL to morning arrivals and departures in late March.

Shanghai's B-7635

Shanghai Airlines' B-7635 (c/n 41585, l/n 5863) is the airline's second of the two deliveries today. The 737-89P, sourced from China Eastern Airlines' order book, is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSH9762, and will overnight at HNL.

Shanghai's B-7862

Shanghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-7862 (c/n 44385, l/n 5871) this morning. The 737-89P, which is the first of two Shanghai deliveries today, is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSH9761, and will overnight at HNL.

Virgin America Launches LAX-HNL Service

Today, Virgin America begins daily service between LAX and HNL, with N282VA "Judy Ann" (msn 6704) making the first flight as VRD57, and VRD60 (HNL-LAX).

Daily service between LAX and OGG begins on June 14th.

Further details in this Virgin America press release.

N303PT

N303PT (msn 303), a DeHavilland Canada DHC-4A Caribou, is making a stop at HNL as it makes its way across the Pacific. The flight began in WWD [Wildwood, NJ] yesterday, with stops at I23 [Washington Court House, OH], K88 [Iola, KS] and SMX [Santa Maria, CA], and arrived earlier today. It will continue onto MAJ, PNI, and BIK.

This DHC-4A was originally delivered to the Kenya Air Force in November 1972 as 206/5Y-BET. In July 1986, it was sold to NewCal Aviation as N300NC. In October 1994, Penturbo Aviation [Rio Grande, NJ], and re-registered it as N303PT in November 2011.


photo to follow ...

Hawaiian's N122AA

Our May edition of "HNL RareBirds Classic" goes back to April 1994, and this Hawaiian Airlines DC-10-10, N122AA (c/n 46522, l/n 56), that was one of 20 leased from American Airlines. This photo of N122AA was taken while it was parked on the Elliott Street ramp.

N122AA was originally delivered to American Airlines in September 1972. It was delivered to Hawaiian in March 1994, and remained until February 2001. American sold N122AA to FedEx in May 2001, supposed to be registered as N551FE, but was instead sold to ECS Refining for parts, and eventually scrapped at MHV in 2002.