Hawaiian Airlines has operated its first nonstop flight between Honolulu and Brisbane. In so doing the airline has become the only US carrier to serve the Queensland capital.
The first of the thrice-weekly flights using a 767-300ER touched down in Brisbane today, returning to Honolulu after a launch ceremony including hula dancing and a traditional Hawaiian blessing of the aircraft.
The inaugural flight also commemorated the epic flight made by the Southern Cross a year before Hawaiian Airlines was formed. In June 1928 the crossing by Kingsford Smith and Ulm took 83 hours. The new service between Honolulu and Brisbane will take nine hours and 15 minutes. The Hawaiian 767 that operated the first service carried a commemorative image of the Southern Cross to mark the occasion.
Hawaiian Airlines’ CEO Mark Dunkerley said: “The flight by Kingsford Smith and Ulm was a pioneering journey, which not only proved the capabilities of the Southern Cross but demonstrated to the world the whole concept of long distance air travel.
“Today, more than 84 years later, I am delighted to be in Brisbane to welcome our own inaugural flight from Hawaii to the Queensland capital, and to celebrate the commencement of our new scheduled services from Brisbane to Honolulu,” Dunkerley added.
