Dehong South Asian Airlines' B-5818

Dehong South Asian Airlines' B-5818 (c/n 43826, l/n 4593) has made a stop at HNL. The 737-73W (BBJ) arrived from KMG [Kunming, China] (via GUM) arrived this evening.

Xiamen Air's B-1305

Xiamen Air is taking delivery of B-1305 (c/n 63684, l/n 6650) this morning. This 737-85C is making its delivery flight from BFI as CXA8399, and will overnight at HNL.

Kunming Airlines' B-1329

Kunming Airlines is taking delivery of B-1329 (c/n 44395, l/n 6646) this morning. This 737-7LY is making its delivery flight from BFI as KNA1329, and will overnight at HNL.

China Airlines Launches A350 Service To Hawai‘i

Today marked the first time that a A350-941 operated a revenue flight to Hawaii. Taipei's national carrier China Airlines, will now utilize the newest offering from Airbus on it's TPE-HNL-TPE (CAL1, CAL2) route.

Although the first revenue flight arrived today, it was not the first time that a A350 has visited Hawaii. On Friday evening, China Airlines' B-18901 (msn 049) arrived carrying Taipei's President and the CEO of China Airlines. It will remain in Hawaii while President Tsai Ing-wen is visiting the South Pacific region.

The tour of the South Pacific segment will be flown by B-18660 (c/n 41349, l/n5815) . The 737-8SH was ferried from Taipei via Guam and Majuro.

10 Tanker Air Carrier's N522AX

10 Tanker Air Carrier's DC-10-30, N522AX (c/n 48315, l/n 436), is making a fuel stop at HNL while transiting from OSC [Osceola, FL] to YSRI [Richmond, NSW, Australia] to position for Australia's summer forest fire season. It also made stops at ABQ, SBD, and PPG.

C-FRXH

Air Kiribati is taking delivery of a Dash8-100 C-FRXH (msn 388), under lease from Avmax Aircraft Leasing [Calgary, AB]. It's flying from YYC to TRW [Tarawa] via, GTF [Great Falls, MT], CCR [Concord, CA], and HNL.

Hawaiian Airlines' N202HA

Hawaiian Airlines is taking delivery of their first A321-271N(neo), N202HA (msn 7917), today. It's making its delivery flight from XFW [Hamburg, Germany] to PAE, via JFK. The XFW-JFK leg was flown as HAL9975, and the JFK-PAE leg was flown as HAL9976. At PAE, the A321neo will have some of the in-flight entertainment system installed before coming home to HNL.

Urumqi Air B-1325

Urumqi Air is taking delivery of B-1325 (c/n 60170, l/n 6649) today. The 737-8LP is making its delivery flight from BFI as CUH1325, and will overnight at HNL.

China Eastern Airlines' B-1318

China Eastern Airlines is taking delivery of B-1318 (c/n 63764, l/n 6647) this morning. The 737-89P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CES9001, and will overnight at HNL.

San Diego State Aztecs Team Charter

The San Diego State University Aztecs football team has chartered Sun Country Airlines for their road game against the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. N821SY (c/n 39952, l/n 5217) is making the trip as SCX8659 from SAN to HNL. The team will return to SAN following Saturday evening's game as SCX8658.

Hainan Airlines' B-1498

Hainan Airlines is also taking delivery of their second 737-800 in eight days with B-1498 (c/n 43427, l/n 6637). The 737-84P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CHH1498, and will overnight at HNL.

China Southern Airlines' B-1406

China Southern Airlines is taking delivery of B-1406 (c/n 63246, l/n 6642) this morning. The 737-81B, their second delivery in eight days, is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSN1406, and will overnight at HNL.

Allegiant Air's RP-C3194

Allegiant Air is taking delivery of RP-C3194 (msn 2790), an A319-111 formerly with Cebu Pacific Air. It's making its flight from CAN to the mainland, with stops at GUM, and HNL. It will be re-registered as N333NV once it arrives at Allegiant's base.

N214TE

N214TE (c/n 28407, l/n 161), a 737-809, is ferrying from TPE to MZJ, via GUM and HNL. It arrived at HNL this evening.

28407 was originally delivered to China Airlines in December 1998 as B-18609. It had Blended Winglets installed in 2007, and was recently withdrawn from service this past May. It was acquired by Contrail Aviation Support earlier this month as registered as N214TE.

N188JT

N188JT (msn 145000699), an Embraer ERJ-135BJ Legacy 600, owned by Crystal Air Aviation, is transiting from HLP [Halim Perdanakusma, Jakarta, Indonesia] to LNK [Lincoln, NE], via MAJ, HNL, and SJC.

Aloha ‘Oe N943WP

Island Air is returning N943WP "Ho‘olauna" (msn 420) to its leasing company this morning. Southern Cross Aviation will ferry it from HNL to CMA as SXA418.

China United Airlines' B-1310

China United Airlines is taking delivery of B-1310 (c/n 42942, l/n 6638) today. The 737-89P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CUA310, and will overnight at HNL.

Jiangxi Air's B-1326

Jiangxi Air is taking delivery of B-1326 (c/n 63049, l/n 6633) today. This 737-85C, Jiangxi's first delivery for the year,  is making its delivery from BFI as CJX8989, and will overnight at HNL.

Qantas' VH-ZNA

The first 787-9 for Qantas is curently in Hawaii on its way down under. VH-ZNA "Great Southern Land" (c/n 39038, l/n 615) will arrive in Australia on the 20th.

Hawaiian Airlines Prepares New Facilities

Hawaiian Airlines has begun moving into its new cargo and maintenance facility as the construction has been completed. The twin-buildings, which the airline spent its own money to correct numerous deficiencies by state contractors, will house its cargo operations, maintenance, fleet safety, engineering, and security. The maintenance hangar is large enough to accommodate one A330-243, and two 717-200s.

Hainan Airlines' B-1497

Hainan Airlines is taking delivery of B-1497 (c/n 63615, l/n 6628) this morning. The 737-84P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CHH1497, and will overnight at HNL.

China Southern Airlines' B-1405

China Southern Airlines is taking delivery of B-1405 (c/n 63805, l/n 6617) this morning. The 737-81B is makings delivery flight from BFI as CSN737, and will overnight at HNL.

Aloha ‘Oe N945WP

Island Air is ferrying their second ATR72-212 to the mainland. N945WP "Hilina‘i" (msn 434) is being ferried by Southern Cross Aviation as SXA419, and its first stop is CMA.

Island Air Files Chapter 11 Re-organization

Island Air announced today that they are filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy re-organization protection, while they work to resolve issues with their aircraft lessors. With this filing, Island Air will continue to operate as normal, and continue its level of service.

Further details are in this Island Air press release.

Hawaiian Airlines' N361HA

Hawaiian Airlines' newest A330-243, N361HA "Hōkū Mau" (msn 1823), has made its way home from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France [TLS]. Their 24th A330 made a stop at Paine Field, Everett, WA [PAE], on September 28th, to have some cabin modifications done. On October 16th, it was ferried to SEA to be put into service as HAL21 to HNL.

Shanghai Airlines' B-1335

Shanghai Airlines is taking delivery of B-1335 (c/n 63050, l/n 6619) this morning. The 737-89P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CSH9761, and will overnight at HNL.

China Eastern Airlines B-1309

China Eastern Airlines is taking delivery of B-1309 (c/n 63763, l/n 6610) this morning. The 737-89P is making its delivery flight from BFI as CES9001, and will overnight at HNL.

Shanghai Airlines B-2500

Shanghai Airlines' B-2500 (c/n 35115, l/n 946) arrived this morning from Shanghai as FM9765. Originally delivered to Shanghai Airlines in September 2006, the 767-36DER flew with the company until it was withdrawn from use in August this year.  

Alaska Airlines Celebrates "Decade Of Aloha"

Ten years ago today, Alaska Airlines launched service to Hawai‘i, with a single flight from Seattle.  The airline is celebrating its "Decade of Aloha" with various Hawaii-themed promotions.

The top photo shows N559AS at Gate 23 after it made the inaugural flight from SEA as ASA851. Presently, Alaska Airlines serves the four major Hawaiian airports from eight west coast cities. The above photo shows the airline's current livery.

San José State Spartans Team Charter

The San José State University Spartans football team chartered a Hawaiian Airlines 767-33AER, N582HA "Ake Ake" (c/n 28139, l/n 857) for its road trip to Honolulu, to face the University of Hawai‘i Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, as HAL751.


*** 10.14.17 Update ***
The Spartans returned to SJC late Saturday night, following their 37-26 loss to the Rainbow Warriors, aboard N580HA "Kolea" (c/n 28140, l/n 850) as HAL752.

Southwest Airlines Announces Intentions For Hawai‘i

Southwest's Canyon Blue 737s in the Hawaiian Islands? The airline announced today of their intentions to serve Hawai‘i from the west coast. In order to begin service, aircraft from the Southwest fleet will need to be ETOPS 180 certified.  The airline did not state which variant it would launch Hawai‘i service with, either their 737-8H4s or 737 MAX8s. Southwest will release further launch information at a later date.

Hawaiian Re-considers Widebody Fleet Options

In an interview with CNN Money, Hawaiian Airlines' CEO Mark Dunkerley, intimated that with the recent changes on their widebody order with Airbus (going from the cancelled A350-800 to the A330-800neo), the airline may turn to Boeing as an option.

Virgin Australia's VH-ZPO

Virgin Australia is ferrying VH-ZPO "Boomerang Beach" (msn 19000321) from BNE to BNA, via APW, HNL, and VNY, as VOZ9901. It arrived this afternoon from APW, and will continue onto VNY tomorrow morning. This ERJ-190AR is being returned to it's lessor, Avolon, who purchased it from Virgin Australia in June 2012, and leased it back. VH-ZPO will be put into storage at BNA.

Outback Spirit's N314CL

Australian tour provider Outback Spirit Tours is taking delivery of N314CL (msn C208B5355), Cessna C208B Grand Caravan, that is making its way from ICT [Wichita, KS]. Before crossing the Pacific Ocean, it made stops at COS [Colorado Springs, CO], MCE [Merced, CA], and FAT [Fresno, CA]. It will continue onto APW, early tomorrow.  After APW, N314CL's next stops are scheduled to be OOL [Coolangatta] and RCL [Rothwell], before arriving at its new home in Bankstown, New South Wales [BWU]. It will be registered as VH-VCK when arrives at BWU.

Icelandair's TF-FIW

Icelandair's Abercrombie & Kent 757-27B logojet TF-FIW "Búrfell" (c/n 24838, l/n 302) has made a stop from KEF [Keflavik, Iceland], via MSP and LAX, as ICE1404.

Abercrombie & Kent is a luxury travel company based in Cheltenham, United Kingdom, and the Icelandair 757-27B is outfitted in a VIP cabin layout.

24838 was originally delivered to Air Holland in August 1990 as PH-AHL. Three months later, it was acquired by Condor as D-ABNX. In February 2000, it was acquired by Icelandair as TF-FIW; and has been leased to Aeromar (May-July 2002), Loftleidir Icelandic (January 2004 - April 2007, and subleased to Blue Line from May-October 2005), Yakutia Airlines as VP-BFI (April 2007 - March 2013), and Air Niugini (May-September 2013). After its return, TF-FIW wore the Icelandic livery. Since 2017, it has been the Abercrombie & Kent jet.

Photo courtesy Charlie Alfa.


*** 10.04.17 Update ***
ICE1404 continued onto PPT [Faa‘a International Airport, Papaete, Tahiti] this morning.

Hebei Airlines' B-1328

Hebei Airlines is taking delivery of B-1328 (c/n 42966, l/n 6605) this morning. The 737-8LW is making its delivery flight from BFI as HBH1328, and will overnight at BFI.

Aloha ‘Oe N944WP

Island Air bid farewell to N944WP "Ho‘opa‘a" (msn 345) today. The ATR72-212 is being ferried to BGR [Bangor, ME], via CMA [Camarillo, CA] and SLN [Salina, KS], by Southern Cross Aviation. It left early this morning for CMA as SXA416.

N727RE

Our October edition of "HNL RareBirds Classic" goes back to 2004, and this 727-282/Adv, N727RE (c/n 22430, l/n 1715), owned by Imperial Palace Air, as it made a stop at HNL.

22430 was originally delivered to Transportes Aéreos Portugueses [TP/TAP] (Portugal) in March 1981 as CS-TBY "Amadora". In February 1990, it was sold to Blenheim Aviation, then leased back to TAP. Later that December, it was leased to Somali Airlines [HH/SOM] as 6O-SCG, and subleased to Carnival Airlines [KW/CAA] (USA) in June 1992 with the same registration.  In January 1993, the leased was transferred to Carnival as Somali Airlines shutdown, registered as N6167D, and flew until February 1998. Imperial Palace Air acquired this 727 in May 1998, and re-registered as N727RE in February 1999. The cabin was reconfigured to a VIP layout, winglets were installed, and the JT8D-17 engines were replace with Pratt & Whitney JT8D-217s. It flew with Imperial Palace until April 2005, when it was sold to the government of Burkina Faso (Africa) as XT-BFA. It was withdrawn from service in December 2016, and now sits in storage at QLA [Lasham, UK].