Trouble in Paradise: ANA’s Flying Honu Might Be Too Big for Hawaii
All Nippon Airways' (ANA) Airbus A380, uniquely painted with Hawaiian sea turtle designs, specifically for their Tokyo-Honolulu route.
If you’ve ever flown between Tokyo and Honolulu, you’ve probably seen or heard about ANA’s giant “Flying Honu” aircraft—the massive double-decker Airbus A380s painted like sea turtles. They’re hard to miss and were meant to symbolize the strong tourism link between Japan and Hawaii.
But right now, they might be in trouble.
ANA didn’t even originally order these planes. They inherited the order back in 2019 from Skymark, a low-cost Japanese airline that collapsed before taking delivery. Rather than cancel, ANA decided to deploy all three A380s on the high-traffic HNL–Tokyo Narita route, expecting strong demand “PRE-PANDEMIC”.
Then came COVID. And everything changed.
What’s Happening Now
ANA is still flying the Honu, sometimes twice daily, but many of those seats are going out half-empty. That’s a big problem for a plane this size. Even though the A380 has great per-seat economics when it’s full, it needs a very high load factor to actually be profitable.
Flying on an empty Honu from Narita back home to Honolulu in early 2024.
Here’s why demand is soft right now:
The yen is weak compared to the dollar
Hawaii is getting more expensive, especially for international visitors
Inflation in Japan is pinching wallets
Other airlines are pulling back from Hawaii routes, but ANA is still locked into theirs
They can’t just park the planes either, retiring them would be a huge financial hit. So for now, they’re stuck. Hoping things bounce back. Meanwhile, we’re seeing more empty seats on these once-premium-packed jets.
An almost empty ANA lounge in 2024 at HNL.
For Points Travelers…
If you’ve got Virgin Atlantic points, keep an eye on award space for ANA first and business class on these Honu flights. Empty seats could eventually turn into more award availability or even discounted cash fares to fill the cabin. If you
So what happens next?
Does ANA move the Honu from this route entirely? Or do they slash prices and open the floodgates for travelers (maybe even more award seats 👀) to try and fill them?
Let me know what you think.
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Mahalo,
Scottie | Hawaii Reward Travel
Helping Hawaii-based travelers fly better, cheaper, and smarter.
