At least 36 people were injured, 11 seriously, when severe turbulence hit a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix to Honolulu on Sunday, officials said.

Flight HA35 "encountered severe turbulence" shortly before landing in Honolulu, the airline said on Twitter.

"Medical care was provided to several guests & crew members at the airport for minor injuries while some were swiftly transported to local hospitals for further care."

The Airbus A330-200 was carrying 278 passengers and 10 crew members, airline officials said.

A total of 36 people were treated, including some with nausea and minor injuries, Jim Ireland, director of Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, told a news conference in Honolulu.

"After the triage area was set up, 20 ended up needing to go to the hospital -- 11 were triaged as serious and nine were triaged as minor," Ireland said. Some had suffered head injuries.

"We are also very happy and we feel fortunate that there were not any deaths or other critical injuries. And we're also very hopeful that all will recover and make a full recovery," he said.

Three crew members were among the injured taken to hospital, Hawaiian Airlines chief operating officer Jon Snook said.

He said there had been unstable weather conditions in Hawaii recently but that such incidents of severe turbulence were "relatively uncommon."

"We haven't experienced an incident of this nature in recent history," he said.

The airline said it was "conducting a thorough inspection of the aircraft before returning it to service."