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In the wake of Qantas starting to reboot a variety of long-haul routes and Singapore Airlines saying that it will operate Vaccinated Travel Lanes from Sydney and Melbourne, Hawaiian Airlines has confirmed that it will join the party and will bring back its Honolulu – Sydney service in mid-December.
Hawaiian’s Honolulu – Sydney route has been suspended since March 2020 but the long wait to get the route up and running again is scheduled to end on 13 December when the airline brings back its 5x/week service between the two cities.
The currently published schedule looks like this:
HA451 HNL 12:00 – 19:45+1 day SYD (Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri & Sat)
HA452 SYD 21:40 – 10:35 HNL (Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat & Sun)
Hawaiian will operate this route using its A333-200 aircraft featuring the following cabin configuration:
- 18 lie-flat Business Class seats
- 68 Economy Comfort seats
- 192 Regular Economy Class seats
It’s worth noting that the aircraft’s Economy Cabin seats are set out in a 2-4-2 layout (which can be good news for couples) and that the Economy Comfort seats with 18″ of width and 36″ of seat pitch look like a good option for anyone looking to travel in a little bit more comfort than the regular Economy Class seats offer.
The regular Economy Class seats offer just 31″ of pitch (which is tight) but redeem themselves a little by offering 18″ of width (more than you’ll find most airlines offering in their Economy Class cabins)*
*The bulkhead and exit row seats will offer less lateral space as the tray tables are stowed in the armrests.
Australia isn’t open & Hawaii still has restrictions
While some airlines seem to be falling over themselves to restart routes to/from Australia, it’s important to keep in mind that Australia hasn’t yet said when it will be prepared to start accepting foreign visitors again.
As things stand, Australia is only allowing its own citizens, returning permanent residents, and their immediate families to enter the country, so anyone who doesn’t fit into one of those categories shouldn’t be looking to book any flights to Australia just yet.
Just as importantly, Hawaii isn’t currently holding its arms wide open to foreign visitors either. In fact, Hawaii (and various counties within the state) have changed the rules of entry so many times in the past 18 months it has been hard to keep up with who can and cannot enter the islands.
The current rules (found here) say the following:
“Hawai‘i’s 10-day mandatory self-quarantine remains in place for all trans-Pacific passengers. Travelers entering the state from the U.S. and its Territories who have been fully vaccinated in the United States (including its Territories) may bypass quarantine without a pre-travel test. The vaccination record document must be uploaded to Safe Travels and printed out prior to departure and the traveler must have a hard copy in hand when arriving in Hawaiʻi. The State of Hawai‘i will also accept vaccine records that are digitally validated by Digital Health Pass Partners (AZOVA, CLEAR and CommonPass). Travelers who use one of the State’s partners to link their digitally validated vaccine records with Safe Travels may enjoy expedited processing at the airport (no secondary visual inspection of paper vaccine records). Travelers who were fully vaccinated in Hawai‘i are already eligible for this exception.
We continue to welcome other travelers to the Hawaiian Islands with a pre-travel test.
Travelers wishing to use the pre-travel test to bypass quarantine must have a negative result from a test taken from a Trusted Testing and Travel Partner no more than 72 hours BEFORE beginning the final leg of their trip. Anyone without a negative test result or U.S. vaccination PRIOR to departure must quarantine upon arrival. The State of Hawai‘i will also accept test results that are digitally validated by Digital Health Pass Partners.
The negative test result must be uploaded onto Safe Travels or printed out prior to departure and hard copy in hand when arriving in Hawai‘i.“
The problem can be that while these are the rules for the state of Hawaii, individual counties (like Kaua’i) can have their own rules too, and these can be stricter. Entering Hawaii isn’t straightforward.
Anyone planning to visit Hawaii should check ALL the rules very carefully and not make any plans/bookings before being absolutely sure that they won’t find themselves having to quarantine upon arrival.
Bottom Line
Australia hasn’t yet said when it will allow foreign visitors to enter and the entry rules set down by the state of Hawaii and its counties can be a clear as mud, but that isn’t stopping Hawaiian Airlines from restarting its route between Honolulu and Sydney. While the airline’s route to/from Brisbane remains suspended, the Honolulu – Sydney route will restart on 13 December 2021 and will operate 5x/week.
