Hawaiian Airlines Reveal Moana Themed Airbus A330

Hawaiian Airlines, in collaboration with The Walt Disney Studios, today unveiled the first of three custom Airbus A330 aircraft being adorned with imagery from the highly anticipated, CG-animated comedy adventure “Moana.” The inaugural decal design features four characters from the movie on Hawaiian’s fuselage as they take off on a wayfinding journey, including the demigod Maui, the adventurous teenager Moana, and her two friends: Heihei the rooster and Pua the pig.

“At Hawaiian Airlines, we are modern navigators, carrying guests across vast oceans to experience the unparalleled beauty of our home and richness of our culture,” said Peter Ingram, chief commercial officer for Hawaiian Airlines. “In important ways, Moana’s voyage of discovery parallels that of our guests’ own travel adventures, and we’re pleased to work with Disney to take this wonderful story to the skies.”

Dwayne Johnson, the voice of demigod Maui, and Auli‘i Cravalho, the Hawaiʻi-born actress who is the voice of Moana, were among the first to see the inspiring design when the plane was revealed earlier today in a hangar at the airline’s home base at Honolulu International Airport (HNL). The surprise reveal was hosted by Hawaiian Airlines CEO Mark Dunkerley at a special event attended by several hundred members of the airline’s Team Kōkua program — employees and their families who have volunteered their time and service to give back to the local community.

Next month, Hawaiian will reveal two additional livery designs featuring custom-made decals that show the characters interacting with the planes in dynamic and engaging ways. The unique artwork, created by Walt Disney Animation Studios in collaboration with Hawaiian’s team, reimagines each aircraft as a modern-day voyaging canoe, flying Moana, Maui, and their friends to new and exciting destinations. A time-lapse video of the first decal application and images of the first new livery can be found here.

The overhead luggage bins on all three “Moana”-themed Airbus A330s are also being decorated with characters and artwork from the film. The planes will fly on Hawaiian’s regularly scheduled U.S. domestic routes as well as to international destinations including Brisbane and Sydney, Australia; Osaka and Tokyo, Japan; and Auckland, New Zealand through March of 2017. Fans can track the course of each “Moana”-themed plane in real time at HawaiianAirlines.com/Moana.

Guests traveling to any of Hawaiian’s domestic or international destinations will enjoy special inflight entertainment to include an exclusive welcome video inspired by the film, the “Moana” movie trailer, and Cravalho’s casting video. The airline will also offer co-branded, limited-edition products such as blankets, towels and children’s and adult apparel. These items and more will be available for purchase inflight on select Hawaiian routes or online at Shop.HawaiianAirlines.com.

Hawaiian also announced the Hawaiian Airlines Wayfinder Caption Contest which begins today and runs through Oct. 23 for fans in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. To enter, contestants will be asked to select one of three “Moana” illustrations and, in 150 words or less, capture the spirit of voyaging and wayfinding. Based on the quality and creativity of the caption, the winning entry will receive a Grand Prize trip for two to attend the Los Angeles premiere of “Moana” on Nov. 14. One runner-up will receive a First Place prize of 80,000 HawaiianMiles and a Second Place winner will receive a Hawaiian Airlines and Disney Moana co-branded gift pack. For more information and to enter, follow #SoaringWithDisneyMoana and visit HawaiianAirlines.com/Moana.

According to “Moana” producer Osnat Shurer, the story of Moana, Maui and their heroic journey sprang from the imagination of the filmmakers, who were deeply inspired by the glorious people of Oceania.

“We were inspired by the history of the great Polynesian voyagers,” said Shurer.

“They were the greatest navigators in the world, voyaging across the vast Pacific without the use of modern instruments. They would do all of this using their knowledge of nature – the stars, the waves, and the currents. We’re very excited to work with the modern-day voyagers of Hawaiian Airlines to help bring this story to the world.”

Though it operates with today’s state-of-the-art technology, Hawaiian honors the courage and ingenuity of skilled Polynesian navigators, who were guided by the waves, wind, stars, moon and sun, by naming each of its A330 aircraft after celestial objects. Today’s branded aircraft is N392HA, christened as Hikianalia, the sister star to Hōkūle‘a. Both are part of the constellation Iwikuamoʻo, and rise together above the Hawaiian Islands to help guide travelers back to their island home.

Hawaiian invites its guests and Moana fans interested in learning more about today’s celestial navigation to explore the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines. Mālama Honua, to care for our Island Earth, is a four-year journey by the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hōkūle‘a and the research canoe Hikianalia across the Earth’s oceans. Powered by the wind, guided by the stars, and steered by the knowledge of ancient Polynesian navigators, the voyage will cover a total of 47,000 nautical miles and visit 85 ports in 26 countries.

Our Take:

I think this is a great idea, Moana is going to be great advertising for the island of Hawaii, using these planes is a good marketing plan. I remember being on a flight in New Zealand with Lord of the Rings being promoted on most of their planes and those movies really helped New Zealand’s tourism industry and we have advertising on the side of buses, trains, cars, trucks etc, so using planes sounds good to me.

What do you think of this Moana plane?