Hawaiian Airlines to transport 2M face masks to the islands

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaiian Airlines chartered a cargo flight to China on Saturday to bring 2 million face masks back to the islands.

The effort is in partnership with the grassroots community group Every1ne Hawaii.

The airline says it had to make room in the Airbus A330 aircraft in order to fit all of the masks.

Employees removed the airplane’s lower deck crew rest module, which is located underneath the passenger cabin.

The removal of the crew module will open up space and allow the plane to carry more than 2,500 more pounds of cargo.

Four Hawaiian Airlines pilots, two mechanics and two airport operations employees on board the aircraft will stop off in South Korea before heading to their final destination in China, where they will pick up the masks.

The plane is schedule to arrive back in Honolulu on Tuesday.

More than 2 million face masks will be transported to nonprofits around Honolulu and then distributed to those in need.

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