There is something so spiritually moving about a traditional Hawaiian blessing, a ceremony used to christen new hotels, houses, restaurants and even airplanes. Hawaiian Airlines staged such a ritual to welcome the growing carrier’s tenth new Airbus A330-200 into service. The aircraft operated Hawaiian’s Flight 18 to Las Vegas last Friday after a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony at Honolulu International Airport.
The latest delivery is the first of five new A330s scheduled to join Hawaiian’s fleet this year. The company will receive 12 more of the long-haul, wide-body aircraft in future years toward a total of 22 by 2015.
The airline names its planes for a constellation or star used by Polynesians for celestial navigation in ancient times when they voyaged in sailing canoes across the Pacific to Hawai‘i. Its newest craft is Namahoe, which is the Hawaiian name for the star constellation known as Gemini.
Hawaiian’s wide-body, twin-aisle A330s offer superior creature comforts and amenities that include a spacious interior, increased legroom and a state-of-the-art, on-demand entertainment system with high-resolution LCD touch-screen monitors for every passenger. Every flight on Hawaiian offers an unsurpassed Aloha spirit with friendly flight attendants, free food even in coach, and special island-style meals and service in First Class
Over the past two years, Hawaiian has introduced or announced service to 10 new domestic and international destinations, including Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Sapporo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; New York City and Brisbane, Australia. It will inaugurate service to Auckland, New Zealand on March 13; Sendai, Japan on June 25 and Taipei, Taiwan on July 9.
Hawaiian has the best service to the islands from Los Angeles (LAX). Take the first morning flight out to have more time to play in the surf and sand.
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