SYDNEY, Australia — Jetstar, the budget airline owned by Qantas Airways, canceled its inaugural flight between the southern city of Melbourne and Honolulu due to a mechanical problem, an official said early today.

Passengers were boarding the Airbus 330 airliner at Melbourne airport on Friday afternoon when "a mechanical problem" was detected by engineers during a routine check, Jetstar spokeswoman Simone Pregellio said.

The flight was rescheduled for yesterday morning and the 280 passengers either returned to homes in Melbourne overnight or accepted complimentary hotel accommodations, Pregellio said.

The repaired aircraft commenced Jetstar's inaugural flight at 7:45 a.m. Australia time yesterday, she said.

The delayed departure created disruptions for 90 passengers in Honolulu who were booked on the return flight yesterday morning.

"It's very disappointing for this to happen on our first flight, but we're an airline and mechanical issues do happen," Pregellio said.

Jetstar began flying from Sydney to Honolulu three times a week on Dec. 27. The Melbourne-Honolulu services are twice a week.