I am very pleased to present to your attention my short notes on flights with exotic airlines between the islands of the most remote archipelago in the world. This, of course, plays into the hands of those who like to fly, and even on different planes by different airlines.
There will be 4 repors in total. See Report No. 1 here
In this note No. 2 we will talk about the flight between the islands of Kauai (Lihue city) and Maui (Kahului city) with Hawaiian Airlines.
As with other islands, several airlines operate flights here. My choice fell on Hawaiian Airlines, as they were the only ones offering direct flights at the time of booking.
Hawaiian Airlines is the largest airline in the Hawaiian Islands (state of Hawaii), operating flights connecting both the main islands of the archipelago with each other and the Hawaiian Islands with the US mainland, as well as with countries such as Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Samoa.
The ticket cost me $114 for a direct 47-minute flight. As I said, on average for an hourly flight, the usual price here is $ 100 (plus or minus this price depends on the time of departure, working days, holidays and weekends).
Departure date: April 12, 2016
Departure time: 13:43.
Travel time: 47 minutes.
Airline: Hawaiian Airlines.
Plane: Boeing 717, 17.5 years old.
From Lihue city to the airport about 5 km, which I can easily and with pleasant anticipation from I overcame the upcoming flight on my bike.
Front entrance.
Parking and footpaths leading to the terminal.
Road near the terminal.
Adjacent to the ends of the terminal, a pleasant green area.
And under this tree I spent a couple of tens of minutes to pass the time before departure.
I arrived at the airport 4 hours before departure, since it only takes me an hour to prepare the bike for transportation...
I did this immediately upon arrival to Kahului Airport.
Here he is, my comrade, thirsty for new sensations.
Transportation of a bicycle by air is somewhat troublesome and frightening or perplexing to many.
Everyone knows how luggage is handled at airports....
But looking ahead, my bike survived 8 air segments, 5 takedowns and rebuilds in 4 Hawaiian weeks. No damage, thankfully! Next, I would like to share my experience of preparing a bike for air transportation.
First of all, both flat wheels and pedals are removed, then the rear derailleur, which, with a cock and chain, fits into a bag and is attached to the feather from the inside. Leave the chain on the lower stars, that is, transfer it to this lower position with the switches in advance. Spacers must be inserted into both forks. My spacers were homemade from a simple piece of a stick (a former mop) with screws screwed into its ends.
The steering wheel is twisting. The front fork rotates 180 degrees and is fastened with plastic clamps in such a position that the stem looks back to reduce dimensions. After, the steering wheel is attached to the frame with switches inside the frame. The sharpest parts (fork ends, for example) are additionally protected by applying soft material, in my case, 1 cm thick isalon. A carrying handle is made from a thick rope attached to the frame from above between the saddle and the steering wheel. The connecting rods are fixed with clamps to the frame.
The wheels overlap the frame and are securely fixed with clamps or ropes to the frame. I fix the pedals in the "inter-spoke" space.
The bike flips over on the other side (wheels down) so that you have access to its interior spaces, into which everything you want is stuffed and fixed up to the luggage weight limit. I put there all my things that do not fit the parameters of my hand luggage (in terms of volume, weight, content): a sleeping bag, a tent with pegs, a knife, a repair kit, toothpaste, sunblock. Some things can be used to additionally protect weak points. For example, I additionally protected the switches on the steering wheel with a bedding for sleeping in a tent, putting it on them. And the front sprockets, many times folded, a poncho-raincoat in a plastic bag.
Next, wrapping this miracle with cling film begins. Previously, in Vladivostok, at the Chinese Bazaar, I bought a 300-meter roll of such a film for 250 rubles, which was enough for 5 packs, and I was not greedy and packed every time. In the end, even 15 meters remained.
After the complete "cocoonization" of the bike, a hole for the carrying handle is cut, the seams are tightened with adhesive tape. It is also advisable to go over all the protruding places with tape for greater resistance to scuffs. At the end, we sculpt the sheets (on both sides) and you're done. Tip: you can put nail scissors under the sheet so that upon arrival you can easily open this rather strong cocoon for the new birth of your bike. for transporting budget bike options like mine.
Follow roughly the same packing plan as I did. The film must be transparent (the bike must be visible!), in order to once again make it clear to the airport services that this is not a suitcase and cannot be thrown. It is advisable to print approximately the same leaflets explaining that there is a bicycle inside with a request to be careful and thanks. And write them in the languages When I flew from Vladivostok to Honolulu via Tokyo, I had 3 of these flyers in Russian, Japanese and English.
The advantages of transporting and packing the bike in this way:
- the bike is so compact that it fits within the dimensions of the free checked baggage! In the One World alliance, which includes S7 and Japan Airlines, the dimensions are as follows: 23 kg in weight and 203 cm in the sum of three measurements in size. So, my bike weighed only 21 kg with ALL the junk inside (repair kit, knife, tent, sleeping bag, liquids, sleeping mat), and its dimensions are 200 cm. This suggests that I transported the bike on transoceanic flights for free ! Unfortunately, in Aeroflot and the Sky Team alliance, dimensions are 158 cm, here you will most likely have to pay extra for oversize.
- simplicity and reliability of packaging. Cling film is cheap, its 300-meter roll (eat less) is relatively light. Scotch is always and everywhere. Multiple layers of wrapping make a really strong, durable shell for your luggage.
Check-in for all Hawaiian Airlines flights takes place at all of their desks and throughout the day, which means not 2-3 hours as we do at regional airports.
Registration is not quite normal! Very strange for us Russians.
There are regular check-in counters next to them.
So, you go to the check-in counter, check in yourself at the machine and pay for luggage with a bank card ($35 for a bike, and $25 for ordinary luggage), and you get a boarding pass. The employee at the check-in desk only prints out the luggage tag and sticks it on the luggage.
Next, you need to take your luggage to the scanner, where it will be checked and accepted for transportation.
Luggage scanner next to the counters.
For the first time in my life, having done such steps, I, freed from a 20-kilogram bicycle-luggage, went to explore the general territory of the airport. The United States, before check-in, must be inspected for the absence of objects of animal and vegetable origin in the luggage.
Hawaiian Airlines flights were the most crowded. There are no people in the check-in area, for example, of American Airlines.
The airport area is quite pleasant, there is something to see and where to relax.
For example, I had a wonderful meal in this pavilion.
American Greed. All baggage carts are chargeable. $5.
But returning the cart to its place allows you to get 25 cents.
Spotting conditions are normal. As soon as you move away from the right end of the terminal, you can see the apron and the aircraft taxiing to/from the runway.
The terminal is an elongated rectangle - the central
There is a bust in the center here, but I don't remember who.
The back wall of the central hall is very embossed.
There are several cafes within the central hall, including Starbucks. All of them offer stunning panoramic views of the platform.
Several spotting photos.
Alaska Airlines on their B737s is a very, very frequent visitor to Hawaiian ports.
ATR Island Air.
View of the apron.
A321 American Airlines.
B717 Hawaiian Airlines.
The wings of the terminal are simple and spacious, ...
.... with gardens.
Going into my drive....,
... in the center of which is a rack with airline employees walking around with various problems of passengers. For example, someone is late for a flight, they are transferred to the next one, or you can even fly on an earlier flight.
Our B717 soon arrived.
Please love and favor ! For the first time on the Boeing 717 website!
Aircraft maintenance has begun.
The landing has been announced. Exit 6.
I took a photo of Alaska Airlines in a custom livery from the air bridge.
We enter the plane.
I asked the flight attendant for permission to take a photo of the cockpit (it was open). The stewardess, in turn, asked the captain about this, who gave the go-ahead.
The salon, that business, that the economy has been updated.
Business class (aka first class Americans); 2-2; brown leather look.
Economy; 2-3; under blue leather.
Seats for a short flight are normal, but only for a short one. Seat back does not recline.
Americans are quite simple and free in their behavior, which sometimes makes them very uncultured to the European and Asian look.
Here, for example, how the lady next door to me was sitting before takeoff.
The table, well, quite a mini-mini... such flights are not fed, and the longest flight is 1 hour.
There is a safety manual and a logbook in my pocket.
Runway and crew briefing.
The airport is located on the ocean, which creates a special atmosphere of the first minutes of the flight.
The whole airport of Kahului, as in the palm of your hand.
Most of the journey was with views like this.
From service on board: juice or water.
Soon we flew over Oahu.
Next to Lanai.
On the way there were short but dense clouds.
And then, finally, the island of Maui appeared, e th eastern part, represented by the huge shield volcano Haleakala (more than 3,000 meters), occupying 75% of the island. This volcano is dormant now, but it has been active for 600 years!
The lower the plane descends, the brighter the colors of the scenery become.
Under the wing of a sugarcane plantation, and in the background the foothills of the Haleakala volcano.
Touching and braking.
We are approaching the Kahului airport terminal, meeting American and Hawaiian airlines, and United.
Friendly tails...
Aircraft maintenance starts just instantly after the engines stop.
The "three fat men" scene (no offense...).
Not having time to dive into the plane, you have to get out of it. People live in such small areas and many of them do not know what long distances are. When I say that from my city, Vladivostok, to the capital of Russia, Moscow, it is 8 hours of summer, everything becomes just creepy ....
The same as in all Hawaiian airports , in Kahului, passengers from the gangway enter the sterile departure/arrival area, meeting with departing passengers. ID=76719]
.... halls....
.... and escalators.
On the way we came across expositions dedicated to reefs.
And finally, the luggage room.
My bike was at the service exit next to the baggage carousel. One feels a separate approach to unloading/loading such a special. baggage. This is good news and gives you confidence that nothing will be damaged during transportation.
In the baggage claim halls of all airports there are very useful desks with tourist information about this island.
I advise everyone to take these free brochures and maps of the islands.
The area in front of the baggage claim area.
Departure from the airport. Car rental offices are in the background.
Leaving the terminal, I found a secluded spot where I packed my bike and rushed to meet new adventures.....
In conclusion I want to say that Lihue and Kahului airports, as well as Hawaiian Airlines, left the most pleasant experience. Simplicity in everything against the background of perfect clarity and speed does its job. Like the previous flight with Island Air, this flight was a great success with beautiful views overboard, learning new moments at check-in, etc. I also did not notice any negative points at airports and airlines.
Thank you all for watching!
To be continued.....
P.S.
The beauty of Maui is somewhat inferior to the beauty and diversity of the previous island I visited, Kauai , but nevertheless, Maui is one of the favorite islands for tourists from all over the world. I share with you.
The coastal strip of volcanic basalts is still in the process of its transformation, although it is already stunningly beautiful.
Photo from East Maui near the town of Hana. The color of the ocean of indescribable beauty! And beyond the horizon there are thousands of kilometers of the mighty Pacific Ocean, beyond which is North America.
Or these broad rolls south of the city of Kahului against the backdrop of the Western Mountains, shrouded in clouds.
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