HONOLULU – May 29, 2010 - Hawaiian Airlines today welcomed its second new, long-range Airbus A330-200 aircraft to Hawaii following a 16-hour nonstop flight from Toulouse, France to Honolulu.
The 294-seat, wide-body A330 departed Toulouse this morning at 10:20 a.m. (CEST) and landed at Honolulu International Airport at 2:00 p.m. (HST), covering 6,600 nautical miles, and demonstrating the range and distance of potential new markets that Hawaiian can serve with its new fleet. A seven-member crew accompanied the flight.
The new aircraft is scheduled to begin commercial service with its inaugural flight on Thursday, June 17, departing Honolulu for Los Angeles. Combined with Hawaiian’s first A330 that begins service on Friday, June 4, also between Honolulu and Los Angeles, and the two aircraft are adding approximately 118,000 new seats annually to Hawaii from its number one tourism market in North America.
Hawaiian plans to introduce up to 27 new Airbus aircraft into its fleet by the end of the decade. Hawaiian is initially leasing three A330s, the third of which will join the fleet in November, and has signed a purchase agreement with Airbus to acquire seven A330s (starting in 2011) and six A350XWB-800 (Extra Wide-Body) aircraft (starting in 2017), along with purchase rights for an additional five A330s and six A350s.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian is the nation’s highest-ranked carrier for service quality and performance in 2009 in the 20
th annual Airline Quality Rating study, having earned that distinction in three of the past four years. Hawaiian has also led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past six years (2004-2009) and has been an industry leader in fewest misplaced bags during that same period (#1 from 2005-2007, #2 in 2008 and 2009) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the top domestic airline offering flights to Hawaii.
Now in its 81st year of continuous service for Hawaii, Hawaiian is the state’s biggest and longest-serving airline, as well as the largest provider of passenger air service to Hawaii from the state’s primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (10) than any other airline, as well as service to the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides more than 150 daily jet flights between the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at www.HawaiianAirlines.com.