Hawaiian Offering $300 “Rescue Fare” to Air Australia Flyers

Hawaiian Airlines, photo by Wendy Osher.

By Sonia Isotov

Hawaiian Airlines announced it is offering a special one-way “Rescue Fare” for travelers stranded by today’s shutdown of Air Australia.

The fare is valid for travel on Hawaiian’s daily flights between Honolulu to Sydney through Thursday, March 1, 2012 at $300 USD for Honolulu departures and $300 AUD for Sydney departures, all taxes and fees inclusive.

The Rescue Fare must be purchased by calling Hawaiian’s reservations department at 1-800-367-5320 or at Hawaiian’s ticket counters at Honolulu International Airport and Sydney International Airport.

Travelers booking the fare will be required to present their Air Australia ticket or itinerary information when checking in for their Hawaiian Airlines flight. Hawaii residents booking the fare for a return to Hawaii from Sydney will be asked to produce their Hawaii ID at check in.

Air Australia has gone into bankruptcy and shut down all flights, including two out of Hawaii. Coutesy of Hawaii News Now.

“We’re offering this special fare to help our friends from Australia return home and not let this unfortunate circumstance tarnish their vacation in Hawaii,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and chief executive officer, in a written statement. “We also want to help any Hawaii residents stranded in Australia to get home.”

“We would like to extend our aloha to Hawaiian Airlines for offering this special fare to visitors from Australia stranded by the Air Australia flights and providing our residents in Australia a way home,” said Mike McCartney, president and chief executive officerof the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Hawaiian offers daily, nonstop flights between Honolulu and Sydney using its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft seating up to 264 passengers, with 18 seats in First Class and the remainder in Economy Class.

Hawaiian Flight #451 departs Honolulu International Airport daily at 11:50 a.m. and arrives at Sydney Airport at 7:20 p.m. the following day.

The return Flight #452 departs Sydney daily at 9:20 p.m. and arrives in Honolulu at 10:10 a.m. the same day. (Sydney is 21 hours ahead of Honolulu and the flight crosses the International Dateline.)