The Airports Which Facilitated Our Pacific Cruise

Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre from the top deck of our cruise ship

Story and photos by Ken Kula

After the frosty and white winter of 2023 – 2024 in New England, we were ready for a change from those cold and gray days in New Hampshire. A repositioning cruise, from Hawaii to British Columbia sounded like the change we needed, and we booked the trip that fell in late April through early May. Then the real fun for me began… how to fly to the Fiftieth State to begin the cruise, and a little more than a week later, fly from Vancouver B. C. back home. Here’s what the airports which enabled the cruise looked like, including four large aerodromes. There were a few other bonus aviation offerings during the trip too.

A plus for living in Manchester, New Hampshire is that we’re 15 minutes from the local Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and only an hour from Boston’s Logan International Airport. Hawaiian Airlines operates a daily non-stop flight between Boston and Honolulu in Airbus A-330-200 equipment, and that was what we settled on. The flight lasted some ten and a half hours in the air, plus another thirty minutes or so on the ramp in Honolulu. We arrived early, and our gate was still occupied by Hawaiian’s first Boeing B-787-9, which was outbound to a California destination.

Boston Logan International Airport early on a Saturday morning in April

Boston Logan International Airport (ICAO: KBOS) was officially opened in September, 1923. Four years later, the first commercial airliners began operating from Boston Airport (sometimes known as the East Boston Airport). For a number of years, the Massachusetts Air National Guard operated from Logan, with piston and jet fighters. In 1943, it was officially named after General Edward Lawrence Logan, a native who served in the Spanish American War and World War I. Today, Logan is operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). The airport boasts many international non-stop flights from Asia, Europe and South and North American cities. It offers robust domestic airlines’ schedules and is a busy Business Aviation destination too. Latest traffic numbers for 2023 reveal that there were 395,146 flight operations, carrying 40,833,978 passengers. Freight operations totaled 282,560 tons including mail, small packages and general freight.

Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport line-up with a rain shower behind the tails

Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is the major facility which serves Hawaii’s largest city. It is operated by the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation. Part of the airport’s property supports a major U. S. military base, including its own passenger, freight/cargo, and air defense facilities. This airport officially opened in March, 1927, named after John Rogers, a World War I naval officer. During World War II, the civilian airport became a U. S. Navy base, but was restored to a civilian operation after hostilities ended. By 1951, the facility was renamed the Honolulu International Airport. It served as an important civilian airliner hub for airlines the likes of Pan Am, United, Northwest and Western Airlines. In 2017, the Honolulu airport was renamed the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, after the deceased Hawaiian U. S. Senator and Medal of Honor winner. In 2023, the airport served 21,188,678 passengers, and 317,830 flight operations. Inter-island operators fly an interesting mix of prop and turbojet airliners, and diverse types of air freighters as well. A total of 615,136 tons of cargo was handled in 2023.

A McDonnell Douglas Helicopters MD-520N NOTAR flying past us in the port of Honolulu at sunset

As we boarded our ship, several helicopters flew by in front of the setting sun. A NOTAR MD-520N helicopter was a nice surprise. We made two more daytime stops in Hawaiian waters, and on Kauai, we visited the Waimea Canyon, which is a tourist helicopter destination. Although a bit cloudy, a number of Robinson and Hughes helicopters looped around in the nearby valley.

Harbour Air DHC-6 Twin Otter, with a DHC-3T turbine Otter in the background

After we left Hawaiian waters, we cruised the Pacific for five more days, arriving in Vancouver Harbor early on a Monday morning. We sailed into Vancouver Harbour and passed the Flight Centre (ICAO: CYHC), packed with Harbour Air DHC Beavers (radial-powered versions!), turbine Otters, Twin Otters and a few Cessna Caravans. The Centre was designed and built to serve the city during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, replacing old docks that served seaplanes. Today, there are a half dozen airlines which operate to/from the terminal which serve up to nine destinations (a few seasonal), and several charter carriers offer irregular flights too. After clearing customs, we caught a taxi to Vancouver International Airport, just a 30-minute ride through the beautiful city.

KF Cargo Convair CV-580F at Vancouver International Airport

The Vancouver International Airport (ICAO: CYVR) is located in Richmond, B. C. on Sea Island. We had passed through Canadian Customs as we left our ship, and not more than an hour later, passed through the U. S. Border Pre-Clearance facility to re-enter the U. S.. We would fly to Seattle on a Skywest Embraer ERJ-175 operating in Delta Airlines colors. In 1929, the City of Vancouver purchased land to build a new airport, replacing a grass field on another island. The airport was officially opened for business on July 22, 1931. During World War II, the airport was leased to Canada’s Department of National Defense and was used for British Commonwealth Air Training Plan flight training. After the war, the airport reverted to civil operations. The Vancouver International Water Airport (ICAO: CAM9) is located on the Fraser River, alongside the main airport, and serves a vibrant seaplane community. There are helipads too. Vancouver is the second busiest airport in Canada and is a hub for Air Canada and Westjet. We taxied for quite a while in our Skywest Embraer to get to the departure runway. That gave me a great view of the diverse airliners at the airport. A pair of BAE-146s, a B-737-200 Combi and a Convair 580 freighter were all unusual sights. Vancouver reportedly has more direct flights to China than any other North American or European airport. In 2023, the airport handled 284,404 flights carrying 24,938,184 passengers. Cargo during 2023 was 319,032 tons.

Looking out of a window across the aisle from my seat, a Boeing B-777-9 was approaching another airport, at a good distance away from me

I didn’t have a window seat, but during our initial descent into Seattle, I looked across the aisle out the window and spied another aircraft on a parallel route to us. Lo and behold, it was a Boeing B-777X (aka B-777-9) in company colors, a good distance west of us, but still relatively even with us. I tried to take a photo across everything and through the window, but it didn’t work very well. I guessed it was inbound to either Paine Field in Everett, or Boeing Field in Seattle since it disappeared underneath us after a short while.

Alaska Boeing MAX 9 in Seattle

We arrived at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (ICAO: KSEA) during an Alaska Airlines rush, with many Boeing B-737s of different models present (-800s, -900s, MAX 9, and even one of their eleven -700 series). Both Alaska and Delta Airlines have hubs at the airport. In 1944, the Port of Seattle built another airport in the city, after the military took over Boeing Field. However, the first commercial flights to the facility didn’t occur until 1947. Pan Am (Hawaii and London) and Scandinavian Airlines (Europe) offered initial jet service from Seattle in 1959 and 1966, respectively. The airport is owned and operated by the Port of Seattle; 2023 traffic included 50,877,260 passengers and 422,508 flight operations. Cargo volume was 417,052 metric tons for the year too.

The flight tracker aboard our Delta A-321neo flight from Seattle to Boston, approaching Minnesota

We boarded our Delta Airlines Airbus A-321neo on time, and departed Seattle on an easterly heading without delay. An interesting feature found on the new airliner is Delta’s flight-following video display, showing many parameters of the jet in flight. Heading, altitude and moving map are pretty standard features, but the pitch and roll rates were fascinating when we were in a turn or when making an altitude change. We arrived in Boston on time, almost eleven days after our trip began.

We passed through four “International” airports during our cruise/trip, spent some sixteen hours in the air, and spent quality time spotting aircraft at five different airports. The cruise was great, but that is another story in itself. For an aviation enthusiast, this was a rather great bonus while cruising the Pacific.