On July 1, ANA reintroduced the Airbus A380 “FLYING HONU” on the Narita – Honolulu route. For the time being, there are two round-trips a week on Fridays and Saturdays, but the Haneda – Honolulu route (NH186/185) has been increased to five round-trips a week from the same day, bringing ANA’s Tokyo – Honolulu route to seven round-trips a week (one round trip daily) from July. The first and second A380s will be used for the re-launch, but the launch of the third A380, which will be sunset orange in color, has not yet been announced.
ANA’s Narita – Honolulu A380 schedule (July 1 – October 29, 2022)
NH184: Departs Narita (20:10) – Honolulu (08:45), operated on Friday and Saturday
NH183: Honolulu (11:35) to Narita (14:50), operated on Friday and Saturday
The A380 is a double-decker, super-sized airliner with 520 seats in total, including 8 in First, 56 in Business, 73 in Premium Economy, and 383 in Enocomie, according to ANA’s specifications. The first flight was fully booked in First and Business, and despite it being before the summer vacation, it departed from Narita with about 400 passengers and made a 7-hour and 30-minute flight to Honolulu, which was 10 degrees cooler than Tokyo but still felt the dazzling summer sunlight, for the first time in 2 years and 4 months.
In addition, reservations for this summer are starting to fill up from First/Business. The easing of waterfront measures is making it easier to come and go, so it is best to take action as soon as possible if you are planning a trip to Hawaii.
A re-launch ceremony was held near the exit of the airport in conjunction with the arrival of NH184. Hawaii Governor David Ige, Hawaii Tourism Authority Director and CEO John de Vries, ANA Honolulu Branch Manager and Honolulu Branch Airport Manager Keita Hirashima, and others took the stage. I strongly hope that today’s re-launch of Honu will be an opportunity to rekindle traffic between Japan and Hawaii. On the other hand, local people are concerned that the increase in tourists will destroy Hawaii’s natural environment.
We hope that our concern for the environment will help to dispel some of those fears. We have a word in Hawaii, ‘malama’ (to care), and we will work together to ensure that Hawaii’s beautiful scenery will continue for decades and centuries to come with a sense of caring for Hawaii.
The FLYING HONU 1 then turned around and took off at 12:21 p.m. for Narita with 263 passengers.
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