Hawaiian takes delivery of 10th New Airbus A330

HONOLULU – Hawaiian Airlines has put its 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.

Hawaiian’s newest A330 is named Namahoe, which is the Hawaiian name for the star constellation known as Gemini. Each of Hawaiian’s new A330s is named 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.

Hawaiian’s new A330s are more fuel-efficient and have a longer operating range than its fleet of Boeing 767-300 aircraft, giving Hawaiian the capability to open new nonstop routes between Hawai‘i and points throughout North America and eastern Asia.

In addition to the operational benefits, Hawaiian’s wide-body, twin-aisle A330s also offer superior customer 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.

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.