Worldwide Voyage Receives First Major Sponsorship

HONOLULU —

In a significant display of support for the mission of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s  Worldwide Voyage, Hawaiian Airlines has pledged to provide air transportation for PVS crew and cargo throughout Hawaiian’s route network for the duration of the four-year voyage.

Under a sponsorship contract signed the week of April 21, Hawaiian Airlines will provide 32 million air miles for  crew travel, as well as cargo support for supplies needed as the sailing canoes Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia travel to international ports throughout the Pacific. The value of the sponsorship is estimated to be $1 million.  Hawaiian will be the lead sponsor of the voyage, which will be known as “The Worldwide Voyage Sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines.”

“We are deeply appreciative of Hawaiian’s extraordinary commitment to our mission to inspire young  people throughout the world to care for and sustain our planet, and to coexist in peace and compassion,” said navigator Nainoa Thompson, PVS president. “Sailing Hōkūle‘a has taught us the importance of understanding and  connecting with our natural resources. She is a reminder to us all of the need to celebrate and protect the natural and cultural treasures of Island Earth.”

“The Worldwide Voyage honors a legacy of connecting islands throughout the Pacific that Polynesian  navigators created centuries ago. It is our privilege as modern-day navigators and beneficiaries of that legacy to support this voyage and its message of sustainability and resource protection,” said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian  Airlines’ president and CEO. (To read more, see “Hawaiian Airlines Pledges Crew Travel and Cargo Transportation.“)

Hōkūle‘a Crew Training Sail, Off Wakīkī, August 2012

Hōkūle‘a Crew Training Sail, Off Wakīkī, August 2012