ABC plans to launch the final season of "Lost" with an advance screening during a special Sunset on the Beach, and stars from the show have been invited.

The event is scheduled for Jan. 30 at Queen's Surf Beach in Waikíkí, and fans from as far away as Ireland and Afghanistan are already planning to come.

The sixth season of "Lost," which has been based in Hawai'i since it began in 2004, will have its national broadcast premiere three days later, on Feb. 2.

The network could not yet confirm which cast members would be there, but previous previews have featured most of the primary stars.

Thousands of screaming fans packed the beach when ABC held advance screenings in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Much to their delight, cast members — including Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lilly, Matthew Fox, Daniel Dae Kim and Jorge Garcia — repeatedly broke away from interviews with national media to shake hands, exchange hugs and sign autographs.

For the final season's premiere, the show's executive producers — Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof — are expected to attend, ABC said. Other guests will be announced later.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann said the city was proud to host the premiere because "Lost" was good for the Islands.

"More than any other show, 'Lost' has proven that Honolulu can be an industry production center because the cosmopolitan nature of our great city gives us the ability to double for dozens of places around the world, and we have the talented crew and burgeoning infrastructure to support this industry," Hannemann said.

Alison Gormley and her husband Adrian Hopkins plan to fly from their home in Ireland for the premiere, even though they vacationed on O'ahu last month. Gormley, 32, said she booked their January flight before the event was confirmed.

"We are counting down the days," she said via e-mail. "We arrive in Honolulu the night before the event ... and not even the thought of severe jet lag and adjusting to opposite time zones can take away our excitement."

A fan of the show since it first aired — she said it has taken her on a journey — Gormley is still in shock over the chance "to see our favorite 'Losties' on the red carpet and watch the world premiere on a 30-foot screen under the stars on O'ahu."

Jonine Woods, a former Hawai'i resident serving with the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan, plans to celebrate the end of her six-month deployment at the event. "Lost" is her favorite show, she said.

"I think it is a once in a lifetime chance to get out of the norms of life and meet other fans of the show," the 27-year-old Woods, a staff sergeant, wrote in an e-mail.

"It is also a chance to not see it on a little TV and experience it in a theater type setting, the way I think 'Lost' should be seen," she said. "Who knows, I might be able to meet a few cast members."