A nearly full plane flew into Honolulu from Sydney on Wednesday to start the recovery of service from Australia to Hawaii after the route was suspended in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hawaiian Airlines is resuming its five-times weekly service on its wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft, which seats 278. Flight 451 will depart Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturday at noon and arrive at Australia’s Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport at approximately 7:45 p.m. the next day. Flight 452 will depart Sydney on Tuesdays and Thursdays through Sundays at 9:40 p.m. with a 10:35 a.m. scheduled arrival in Honolulu.

Jon Snook, Hawaiian Airlines’ executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the Sydney serv­ice is a small part of Hawaiian’s total network, but that it is important because of the deep connections between Hawaii and Australia.

Snook said prior to the emergence of the omicron variant that the Australian government had been on a path to more broadly opening tourism. Currently, only Australian citizens and returning permanent residents and their immediate family members are allowed to enter Australia without an exemption.

Still, Snook said it is a positive sign that the Australian government moved so quickly from a hard lockdown to allowing some travel.

“They’ve recognized that they can’t stop the virus and have figured out how to live with it,” Snook said.

While omicron has not had an impact on Hawaiian’s U.S. travel demand, Snook said it has caused many governments to stop and pause.

“There’s been some slowdown in the booking trajectory internationally as people wait to see what happens,” he said. “The good news is that most of our international travel demand is inbound.”

Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Marissa Villegas said the most recent flight from Sydney to Honolulu was 83% full and that load factors for the remainder of December are about 70%.

Hawaiian’s newest service starts as the emergence of the omicron variant has prompted the U.S. to tighten international entry requirements. The U.S. government began requiring international arrivals on Dec. 6 to provide proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test taken within one day of departure.

The more stringent requirements didn’t deter Rachel Hickey or her family from booking a trip to see friends and family in New York by way of Honolulu, where they have planned a few-day stopover before returning to Sydney.

“It feels like it’s been too long. We were stuck in Sydney for two years. It doesn’t feel real to be honest,” she said. “I’m excited about Hawaii. This will be my first trip and I’ve always wanted to come.”

The resumption of service also brought joy to Andrew and Renee Burke, who moved their family to Hawaii in January 2020. The couple were excited to welcome his parents Kerry and Marcia Burke of New South Wales to Hawaii for a long-awaited visit with the grandchildren.

“It’s been very challenging,” Renee Burke said. “We normally see them quite regularly. Visiting on the iPad is just not the same.”

Hawaiian said it started its Sydney-Honolulu service in May 2004 and has maintained its position as a leading destination carrier for travel to Hawaii via New South Wales. The carrier’s three-times-weekly service between Honolulu and Brisbane Airport, which launched in November 2012, remains paused.

Australia is an important tourism market for Hawaii, which according to Hawaii Tourism Authority data welcomed 287,995 visitors from Australia in 2019. On average, Australian visitors to Hawaii in 2019 stayed 9.48 days and spent $268 a day per person.

Through the first 10 months of 2021, there were only 630 visitors from Australia, compared to 41,270 visitors in the first 10 months of 2020, versus 246,063 visitors in the first 10 months of 2019.

Department of Transportation Airports Division Deputy Director Ross Higashi said the continued return of international travelers is important to Hawaii’s tourism-dependent economy, including its state airport system.

“We were able to endure the storm because we had a financial reserve, and we got $325 million in stimulus,” Higashi said. “What we are waiting for is the return of the international traffic.

“You can tell that there is intent to return. Everyone wants to come to Hawaii because of our pristine beaches, lush landscape and tropical climate. They like the aloha that we provide.”