LIHUE — The Alaska Airlines plane that touched down at Lihue Airport Friday featured the design of Aaron Nee, 17, of Honolulu. It also happened to be the airlines’ inaugural, nonstop flight from San Diego to Lihue. “With the addition
LIHUE — The Alaska Airlines plane that touched down at Lihue Airport Friday featured the design of Aaron Nee, 17, of Honolulu.
It also happened to be the airlines’ inaugural, nonstop flight from San Diego to Lihue.
“With the addition of San Diego to Kauai, Alaska Airlines now offers 171 flights a week from San Diego to a dozen cities stretching from Hawaii to Mexico to the East Coast,” says Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of marketing, in a news release.
The nonstop service between San Diego and Lihue flies daily until Aug. 24. Following that date, the flight leaves San Diego on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The return leg, Lihue to San Diego, leaves daily until Aug. 23. Following that date, flights leave on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Tickets are available for purchase starting Friday at www.alaskaair.com.
Sue Kanoho of the Kauai Visitors Bureau said Kauai has never had direct service from San Diego before.
Kanoho, along with Daniel Chun, Alaska Airlines Hawaii regional manager, sales and community marketing, arranged to have greeters meet the inaugural flight when it touched down Friday. Passengers were greeted with live entertainment, a fresh floral lei and a bag containing Kauai information.
The design coating the inaugural flight, dubbed the “Spirit of the Islands,” was created by Nee during the statewide “Paint-the-Plane” contest sponsored by Alaska Airlines in partnership with the Hawaii State Department of Education and the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.
For his design, Nee, a student at Kaiser High School, earned a $5,000 scholarship and a trip for four to any of Alaska Airlines’ destinations. Nee’s design was one of more than 2,700 submissions by students across the state.
The special “Spirit of the Islands” aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, will fly throughout most of Alaska Airlines’ network, connecting destinations from Hawaii to San Diego and from Anchorage to as far south as Mexico.
“Spirit of the Island” is the third time Alaska Airlines has turned to the public to paint a plane.
The 129-foot long Boeing 737-800 has a wingspan of 117 feet and a cruising speed of 530 mph while accommodating 157 passengers and six crew members.
To create the “Spirit of the Islands,” a crew of 18 worked around the clock for 24 days at Aviation Technical Services in Everett, Wash. to paint the plane, which required 26 colors and about 140 gallons of paint, including 20 gallons of primer. Additionally, 28,800 yards of masking tape were used.
Visit www.alaskaair.com for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
