Hawaiian Airlines resumes Auckland service, welcomes Polynesian voyaging canoes

Hawaiian Airlines resumed its seasonal service to Auckland Airport (AKL) on November 17, 2025, marking the beginning of its 2025-2026 schedule between the New Zealand city and Honolulu. 

The carrier has served Auckland since March 2013 and recently celebrated its 96th anniversary in November 2025.

The airline’s return coincided with a significant cultural moment, as crews from Hawaii’s Polynesian Voyaging Society arrived in Auckland aboard the traditional double-hulled canoes Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia. Hawaiian Airlines’ Airbus A330 aircraft, also named Hikianalia after the star Spica, touched down as the first of two vessels sharing the name.

The following morning, the PVS canoes were welcomed at Ōkahu Bay by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei tribal members and escorted by the Te Toki Voyaging Trust’s waka hourua, a Māori double-hulled canoe. The crews had sailed from Honolulu to Tahiti, Rarotonga, and finally New Zealand using ancient wayfinding techniques without navigational instruments or modern technology.

The Auckland arrival marked another leg of PVS’s Moananuiākea Voyage, a 43,000-nautical-mile, 47-month circumnavigation of the Pacific spanning 36 countries, nearly 100 indigenous territories, and 345 ports.

Debbie Nakanelua-Richards, Hawaiian Airlines’ Director of Community and Cultural Relations, attended both arrivals and reflected on the cultural significance. Founded in 1973, PVS has spent decades reconstructing traditional Hawaiian voyaging canoes and recovering ancient wayfaring knowledge. When Hōkūleʻa completed its first voyage to Tahiti in 1976, it was welcomed by more than 17,000 Tahitians, igniting what became known as the Hawaiian cultural renaissance.

“It was a time when Hawaiian culture was at risk of extinction, so there was deep concern to preserve and pass on important cultural knowledge,” Nakanelua-Richards said. “Hōkūleʻa ignited a cultural renaissance in Hawaiʻi, which continues today.”

Hawaiian Airlines has supported PVS for nearly five decades as the official airline sponsor of the Moananuiākea Voyage. The carrier has contributed 34 million miles to help transport voyagers during crew changes and cargo during supply restocks.

“When people see Hawaiian Airlines, they see Hawaiʻi and think of a people, a place and a culture,” Nakanelua-Richards said. “There is kuleana, or responsibility, that comes with that.”

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