China United Airlines' B-7986

China United Airlines is taking delivery of B-7986 (c/n 61684, l/n 6134) today. The 737-89P is makings delivery flight from BFI as CUA986, and will overnight at HNL.

C-FFDO

Bombardier's CS300, C-FFDO (msn 55002) made an overnight stop at HNL, after arriving from ICT (via DEN). "Flight Test Vehicle 8", wearing Air Baltic titles, and one of two test aircraft, departed today for an unknown destination.

Urumqi Air's B-1570

Urumqi Air is taking delivery of B-1570 (c/n 42161, l/n 6133) this morning. The 737-84P is making its delivery flight from BFI as B1570, and will overnight at HNL.

New Mexico Lobos Team Charter

The University of New Mexico Lobos football team has chartered Allegiant Air's N903NV (c/n 26966, l/n 520) for its game against the University of Hawaii‘i Rainbow Warriors. The flight, AAY4407, arrived early this evening from ABQ (via LAS), and the team will return to ABQ following Saturday evening's game as AAY4408.

Qantas Airways' VH-QPJ

Qantas Airways ferried VH-QPJ "Port Stephen" (msn 712) from VCV to SYD, with a stop at KOA as QFA6004. The A330-303 is the first Qantas airliner to wear their 2016 livery, in anticipation of taking delivery of their first 787-9 within the next 12 months. The A330 made a two-hour late-night fuel stop at KOA. VH-QPJ, and Qantas' new look was unveiled at their hangar at SYD.

Further information in this Qantas Airways press release.

China Southern Airlines' B-7996

China Southern Airlines is taking delivery of B-7996 (c/n 43898, l/n 6130) today. The 737-81B is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSN196, and will overnight at HNL.

China Eastern Airlines' B-7599

China Eastern Airlines is taking delivery of their second 737-89P within the past two days, with B-7599 (c/n 41500, l/n 6131). It's making its delivery flight from BFI as CES9002, and will overnight at HNL.

Lucky Air's B-7991

Lucky Air is taking delivery of B-7991 (c/n 61796, l/n 6128) this morning. The 737-84P is making its delivery flight from BFI as B7991, and will overnight at HNL. This is Lucky Air's second 737NG delivery within the past four days.

Hainan Airlines' B-1541

Hainan Airlines is taking delivery of B-1541 (c/n 43417, l/n 6129) this morning. The 737-86N, leased from GECAS, is makings delivery flight from BFI as CHH1541, and will overnight at HNL.

China Eastern Airlines' B-1537

China Eastern Airlines is taking delivery of B-1537 (c/n 41499, l/n 6126) today. The 737-89P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CES9001, and will overnight at HNL.

SilkAir's 9V-MGQ

SilkAir is taking delivery of 9V-MGQ (c/n 44233, l/n 6121) today. The 737-8SA is making its delivery flight from BFI as SLK8880, and will overnight at KOA.

Lucky Air's B-1565

Lucky Air is taking delivery of B-1565 (c/n 39222, l/n 6123) today. The 737-74P is makings delivery flight from BFI as B1565, and will overnight at HNL.

Air China's B-7895

Air China is taking delivery of B-7895 (c/n 60857, l/n 6124) this afternoon. The 737-89L is making its delivery flight from BFI as CCA47, and will overnight at HNL.

Hawaiian Airlines Moana Logo-Jet

On October 15th, Hawaiian Airlines debuted their Disney's "Moana" logo-jet. An unveiling and blessing ceremony was held with 300+ guests in attendance. N392HA "Hikianalia" (msn 1404) was chosen as the first of three of the company's 23 A330-243s to wear the promotional livery. The decision to utilize Hikianalia as the debut aircraft was made in coincidence with the theme of the upcoming movie as it shares the name of one of the two traditional Hawaiian Voyaging canoes (with sister ship Hōkūle‘a) which is currently on an epic adventure around the world.

The unveiling of the new logo-jet was a closely kept secret. The previous day, prior to the announcement ceremony, Hikianalia was towed into the United Airlines Maintenance hangar to have the decals applied. Lighting production and event audio was also prepared in time for the photoshoot with two of the movie's main cast. Auli‘i Cravalho, voice of Moana, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, voice of the demigod Maui, showed up in the early evening for their promotional photoshoot with Hikianalia, and Hawaiian's CEO Mark Dunkerley.

Hawaiian's first promotional livery aircraft was pressed into service the today as HA16 to San Diego.

UNLV Rebels Team Charter

The University of Nevada - Las Vegas Rebels football team chartered a Sun Country Airlines 737-8BK, N818SY (c/n 29646, l/n 2282), for their road game against the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors on Saturday. The Rebels arrived this evening from LAS as SCX8651, and will return to LAS after the game.

Hawaiian Airlines Partners With Maryknoll School

Hawaiian Airlines President & CEO Mark Dunkerley presented Maryknoll School with a $50,000 grant for the school's Mx Scholar Program for STEM and Aerospace.

Further details in this Maryknoll School news article, a few photos on the school's Instagram page, and KITV4 News report.

Yangtze River Express's B-1571

Yangtze River Express is taking delivery of B-1571 (c/n 40744, l/n 5932) yesterday. The 737-8EH is making its delivery flight from LCH [Lake Charles, LA] as B1571. 

This 737 was originally ordered by GOL, but was not taken up, and acquired by Aircastle, registered as N739AC, then ferried to LCH for storage.

NASA's 83-0502

Formally flying for the United States Air Force, this G-20A (Gulfstream-III) was acquired by the National Aeronautical and Space Administration in 2003 to become a test-bed/research aircraft. Hanging below 83-0502 (c/n 389) is an Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) array. According to their website, 83-0502 was used to survey Mauna Loa yesterday. For more information click here.

B-54111

A private A319-115CX ACJ operated by Eva Air arrived form Taipei this afternoon. B-54111 (c/n 5792) wears no markings of its operator.

N278TA

N278TA (msn 278), an A340-313, is ferrying from SFB [Orlando Sanford International Airport, FL] to CGK, via HNL.

278 was purchased by Orix Aviation, and leased to Air Canada in June 1999 as C-GDVZ (f/n 910). In June 2009, it was leased to Air Asia X as 9M-XAC, and wore the Oakland Raiders special livery for three years. It was subleased to Saudi Arabian Airlines from June 2012 to November 2013. After it was returned to Air Asia X, it remained as a white tail, but wore a decal for Wakanow.com (a Nigerian travel company) for a short period of time. It was stored at SZW [Schwerin-Parchim, Germany] from August 2015 to July 2016. Lufthansa Technik acquired this A340, and registered it as D-AAAM, and ferried to SFB.

Trans World Airlines' N637TW

Our October edition of "HNL RareBirds Classic" goes back to August 2001, and Trans World Airlines' N637TW (c/n 25403, l/n 409, f/n 16107). The 767-33AER is seen above at HNL's Gate 23, getting ready to depart for STL.

25403 was originally purchased by AWAS, and leased to LAN Chile [LA/LAN] as CC-CEU in January 1992. GECAS purchased this 767 in 1998, and leased it to Air Madagascar [MD/MDG] that April as 5R-MVZ; and re-registered in September as 5R-MFC. In September 1999, it was leased to TWA as N637TW. Following the merger between TWA and American Airlines, N637TW was transferred, and assigned the AAL fleet number 6TE. In September 2004, it was leased to BRA Transportes Aéreos [BRB] (Brazil) as PR-BRW; and was sub-leased to Ocean Air [O6/ONE] (Brazil) in November 2007 for a few months, before it was returned to GECAS. Ryan International Airlines [RD/RYN] leased this 767-33AER from July 2009 to January 2013 as N637TW. Since then, it has been sitting storage at MZJ.