Mokulele Airlines Offers First Commercial Flight from Kalaeloa Airport

Mokulele Airlines, the state of Hawaii's third-largest carrier with 4 percent of the interisland market, has launched its first commercial flight from Kalaeloa Airport in West Oahu today.  The airline will offer flights from Kalaeloa, Oahu to Kahu­lui, Maui at 7:35 a.m., 1 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. every day with flights from Kahu­lui to Kalaeloa at 6:15 a.m., 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.  Dave Berry, the Chief Operating Officer for Mokulele, stated, "We think this will be a great opportunity for Moku­lele, and the folks in this area have embraced us. We're very excited to open this new airport. The residents in West Oahu have responded very positively to our efforts and the affordable airfares, as well as the convenience, too. You don't have to fight the H-1."  Berry added that Mokulele is looking at expanding and adding some additional routes from Kalaeloa in the next couple of months.  "Probably Molokai would be next, and then we're considering Kapa­lua (Maui) and Lanai. With our current nine planes (in the overall fleet), we may have one or two flights a day to Molo­kai by the end of the summer."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 7-1-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Mokulele Airlines to Begin Flights Out of Kalaeloa Airport

Mokulele Airlines has announced that they will be beginning to offer commercial flights out of Kalaeloa Airport starting on July 1, 2014.  Kalaeloa Airport is located on the western side of Oahu and was formerly the Barbers Point Naval Air Station.  The first route that Mokulele will offer will be between Kalaeloa and Kahului Airport on the island of Maui. Ron Hansen, the chief executive officer for the airline, stated, "It's been a yearlong goal of ours, and it's finally happening and we'll see what the reception is. And if it warrants more flights based on bookings, we'll add more flights."

With regards to other potential destinations, Hansen added, "What we're trying to determine is where passengers want to go at this point. We feel the most conservative way to venture into this is with three flights a day into Kahu­lui, and the rest of the (airline's) flights will remain the same."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-14-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Mokulele Airline Prepares for Service Out of Kalaeloa Airport on Oahu

Mokulele Airlines hopes to start the first-ever commercial flight service from Kalaeloa Airport on July 1, 2014. Kalaeloa Airport, located on the west side of Oahu, was previously known as the Barbers Point Naval Air Station. There are still a lot of hurdles for Mokulele Airlines to overcome, including finalizing a lease with the state to rent the property. However, officials for the airline are confident that everything will fall into place.

Tentatively, the airline plans to fly two to three daily flights from Kalaeloa Airport to Kahului (Maui), Molokai and Lanai, as well as possible service to Kapalua (West Maui). Mokulele current operates more than 120 flights per day and connects Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui and Hawaii (Big Island of Hawaii) island.  According to a previous press release, they plan to purchase two of three more small Caravan planes to help meet demand.

The majority of the West Oahu residents are delighted by this news. Dean Capelouto, the transportation committee chairman of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, commented, "There's a lot of people looking at this as an option of flying from the neighbor islands to get directly to Ko Olina, which is only a hop, skip and a jump from Kapolei. We're supportive of this as a neighborhood board because it promotes business of all sorts. It actually adds potential jobs in our community either via the connector taxi service picking people up from Kalaeloa and taking them where they need to go or at the ticket counter."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 4-20-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Mokulele Airlines Assures Passengers that They are Fully Operational

go! Airlines may have closed their doors to the Hawaii market on March 31, 2014, but Mokulele Airlines wants to get the word out as quickly as possible that they are 100% operational.  There had been a confusion by some passengers that the two companies were one and the same, but Mokulele's Chief Executive Office, Ron Hansen, is quick to point out that this is not the case.  Hansen, stated "We're having a significant number of no-shows because people believe we went out of business.  We're still here. We're going to be here. It will be good when the ghost of go! goes away."

According to Hansen, go! and Mokulele were allowed to sell seats on each other flights, but the two companies are not affiliated in any other way.  Hansen added, "go! is supposed to contact those passengers who had reservations. If passengers booked on go!'s website, through a travel agent or other means, we don't have a contact for them, just reserved seats. All we know is they're booked on our flight but didn't show. We won't charge them a change fee if there's a seat available when they fly.  We just want to assure people that Mokulele is doing great and intends to be here at least another 16 years."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 4-5-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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go! Airlines' Departure Predicted to Not Hurt Neighbor Island Tourism Too Much

Tourism experts are predicting that the recent announcement by go! Airlines stating that they will be leaving the Hawaii market will not hurt neighbor island tourism too much.  go! Airlines took up only 6.8 percent of the interisland market share, as compared to Hawaiian Airlines which currently controls 85.2 percent of the market share.  Hawaii Tourism Authority's vice president of brand management, David Uchiyama, commented, "(Go! was) flying a pretty minimal schedule. There will be an impact, but not as great as if they were flying six aircraft like they were before. They were down to two aircraft."  Uchiyama noted that Hawaiian Airlines, Mokulele Airlines and Island Air should sufficiently be able to absorb all of go! Airlines flights.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 3-18-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Hawaiian Airlines to Create 'Ohana Airlines for Smaller Airports

Hawaiian Airlines has announced that they will be creating 'Ohana by Hawaiian, a subsidiary that will competed directly with Island Air and Mokulele Airlines with flights to the smaller airports on Molokai and Lanai.  'Ohana by Hawaiian will be operated by Empire Airlines, an Idaho-based company, and has just welcomed in its first 48 passenger ATR-42 turboprop airplane. Crews have begun their training and will have to demonstrate to the FAA that they are ready for daily operations before they are given official clearance to start service.  'Ohana initially plans to have a total of three ATR-42 planes and will provide daily service been Honolulu, Molokai and Lanai.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 1-14-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
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Mokulele Airlines Hopes To Offer Service out of Kalaeloa Airport on West Oahu

Mokulele Airlines has announced that they are working with state and government officials to use the Kalaeloa Airport on West Oahu to offer daily service to Lanai, Molokai, Maui and possibly the Big Island of Hawaii.  Kalaeloa Airport, former the Barbers Point Naval Air Station, is currently being used by the U.S. Coast Guard and other military aircraft, as well as a few private planes.  Chief executive officer for Mokulele, Ron Hansen, stated, "There's a large population on that end of the island to support our kind of service. We think it could be a very good market, and we'd like to be the one that initiates it. We may need to do an environmental impact statement, but our planes barely make any noise compared to the military aircraft that use the airport."

Mokulele Airlines currently offers 100 to 120 flights per day and provides service from Honolulu, Lanai, Molokai, Kapalua, Kahului, Hana, Kona and Waimea. The airlines has 10 planes in service and 140 employees.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-19-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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Mokulele Airlines Receives Federal Subsidized Contract for Waimea and Kahalui Route

Mokulele Airlines has just announced that they have received a awarded a four-year, $1.76 million federally subsidized contract to provide service between Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii and Kahalui, Maui.  Mokulele will be required to offer 12 round-trip flights per week between the two airport.  CEO for Mokulele Airlines, Ron Hansen, stated, "We're excited to be chosen for it.  We've been up at Kamu­ela and Wai­mea at community meetings and answered questions. We see it as an opportunity to continue providing service to small communities in Hawaii. We hope it will be as successful as our other routes in Hawaii. Our system average is over an 80 percent load factor (percentage of seats filled)."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 7-10-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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Mokulele Airlines to Offer Service Between Kona and Kapalua

Mokulele Airlines has announced that they will begin offering service between Kona International Airport on the Big Island of Hawaii and Kapalua Airport on the island of Maui.  Mokulele will be the only airline that will offer regular service between the two cities and the company will use a nine-seat Cessna Grand Caravan plane for this route.  President and CEO of Mokulele Airlines, Ron Hansen, stated, "Many passengers who are traveling to Maui are going to Kapa­lua, the Kaanapali resort area, Lahaina or other destinations on the west side of the island.  Now, with our new Kona-Kapa­lua route, travelers who are visiting West Maui won't have to make the drive to and from Kahu­lui Airport, which can take 40 or more minutes each way."

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 7-9-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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Hawaii Tourism – Mokulele to Increase Service Between Kapalua and Honolulu

Mokulele Airlines has announced that they will be increasing their service between Kapalua airport in West Maui and Honolulu to seven round-trip flights per day. CEO of the airlines, Ron Hansen, stated that Mokulele was planning on increasing the frequency of their service, even before Island Air announced on March 22nd that they their last flight between Honolulu and Kapalua would be on May 31, 2013. Hansen stated, “We felt by increasing the frequency (to Kapa­lua) we’d capture more business. It was planned a couple months ago. It’s fortunate that we planned to do this when we did. The fact that they (Island Air) are pulling out is too bad after all these years Local passengers love the (Kapa­lua) flight, and the service and load factors (percentage of capacity ) were high enough to warrant having additional flights. We’re running a 75 to 80 percent load factor.”

However, Hawaiian Airlines has announced that they will be adding a turboprop operation by end of summer under the name ‘Ohana, which would initially offer service to Lanai and Molokai and eventually Kapalua. Ron Hansen of Mokulele expressed his concern that if Hawaiian enters that route, it would be challenging to compete with such a relatively large company. Hansen stated, “We’re like an ant compared to them (Hawaiian Airlines).”

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 4-2-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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Maui Real Estate – New Flight Service Between Kahalui and Hana on Maui

Mokulele Airlines launched a new service between Kahalui Airport and the rural community of Hana. The twice-daily flight will take approximately 20 minutes long as compared to the two hour drive around a narrow, winding road.  State Senator J. Kalani English stated that he believes that the flight will help boost Hana’s economy. English also stated that he hopes that other rural airports will see scheduled service in the near future.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 10-1-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
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Maui Real Estate – Mokulele Airline Announces Flights Between Kahului and Hana Airports

Mokulele Airline has announced that they will be creating two daily flights between Kahului Airport and Hana Airport on the island of Maui. The flights will begin on October 1, 2012 and will take the nine seat Cessna approximately 20 minutes to complete as opposed to the two hour drive time. Rob Hansen, the CEO for Mokulele Airlines, stated, “We know there are a lot of people who drive there every day who prefer to fly. We think there’s a real market there for tourists who want to go out there but hear the horror stories about the drive so they don’t want to try it.” Hansen stated that a one-way fare would be $59.74.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 9-5-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
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Mokulele Airlines Adds Route from Honolulu to West Maui

Mokulele Airlines has announced that it will be adding a new route from Honolulu International Airport to Kapalua Airport, located in West Maui.  The airline will offer four flights per day starting on July 1, 2012, between the two airports.  Chief Executive Officer, Ron Hansen, stated, “As we expand our fleet, we will continue connecting the dots in Hawaii.  The new flights will provide customers with additional options when traveling to and from Maui at affordable prices.”

Hansen also added that Mokulele would like to continue to expand and offer new routes.  Hansen stated, “We’ve hired several more pilots and customer service people, adding people in just about all departments.  So contrary to the rest of the economy, we’re expanding.”

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 5-22-2012, www.staradvertiser.com

Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®

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