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Hawaiian
Airlines today celebrates the 75th anniversary of its first scheduled flights.
At 10:30am on 11 November, 1929 thousands of cheering onlookers watched two Sikorsky
S-38 amphibious biplanes take off from John Rodgers Field (later Honolulu International Airport), bound for Hilo, with a stop on
Maui.
The aircraft, named after the islands of Hawaii and Maui, each carried two crew and a full load of eight passengers occupying
wicker seats.
And at midday, history was made when the two planes touched down on a new airstrip at Hilo, where passengers and crew were
greeted by community leaders and another cheering crowd.
“The arrivals at Hilo on this day in 1929 were of great historical and economic importance for Hawaii, and for our company,” said
Mark Dunkerley, president and chief operating officer of Hawaiian Airlines.
“Today, we reach another exciting milestone for Hawaii and Hawaiian Airlines, achieving 75 years of continuous scheduled
service,” he said.
“It is fitting that one of our first services on this anniversary day will be flight HA22 from Sydney to Honolulu - our newest and
longest route, which was launched earlier in our 75th anniversary year, and has led to a resurgence of Australian tourist and
conference travel to Hawaii.”
Hawaiian Airlines operates approximately 117 scheduled flights each day to six island locations in Hawaii and eight US mainland
cities, plus international services from Honolulu to Sydney, Tahiti and American Samoa.
Through partnerships with other carriers, Hawaiian also offers code shared flights to some 50 destinations on the US mainland
plus four in Canada and eight in Mexico, as well as new services to secondary ports on Hawaiian neighbour islands through a
relationship with regional carrier Island Air.
The
airline operates a fleet of 26 new Boeing jets - 13 252-seat B767-300ER aircraft for trans Pacific operations, and 11
123-seat Boeing 717s for high-frequency inter-island services.
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