Island Air rekindling service to Kona

KAILUA-KONA — Island Air is rekindling service to Kona following a four-year hiatus from the Big Island market.

Starting June 14, five daily flights between Kona International Airport and Honolulu will offer 320 more seats daily to a market where travelers have complained about high fares and not enough competition.

“We need that additional interisland airline. I think Island Air is coming in with the perfect amount of seats,” said Ross Birch, executive director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau. “It’s not like they’re coming in match-to-match with Hawaiian Air and taking a huge market share. It’s a nice relief valve.”

The return to the Kona market will create 25 airport-related jobs at KOA, including a station manager and customer service and ramp agents.

Island Air is promoting the addition of Kona to its Oahu, Maui and Kauai routes by offering $69 introductory one-way fares between Kona and Honolulu for travel between June 14 and Sept. 30. The tickets went on sale Thursday, with the price good through Wednesday, April 20.

The seats will help bring in to the Big Island passengers arriving from China, Korea and Japan, Birch said. Many of those international flights arrive mid-to-late morning and encounter fully booked Hawaiian Airlines interisland flights, he said.

“It’s a really big boost for us,” Birch said. “Hopefully those international flights will keep Island Air’s seats full so the prices can stay down for the locals.”

The flights will be spread throughout the day, with two in the morning, one around early afternoon and two in the late afternoon and evening, the company’s president and CEO Les Murashige told the newspaper.

Requests for the service from a broad spectrum of travelers prompted the company to look hard at Kona, he said.

“If we get the interest, we’ll add more frequency,” Murashige said. “We’re definitely assessing Hilo now. Once we get Kona up and running and see the interest and ridership we have, we can go from there.”

The lack of airlift and pricey seats were a topic of discussion at Mayor Billy Kenoi’s last address to the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce on April 5. Kenoi described how friends visiting on a narrow window had to pay $190 each way to Oahu, and how business travelers often have to stay overnight because of flight schedules.

“Trying to create more airlift has been a goal of this administration from the beginning,” Kenoi said. “Interisland, we need another airline. We need competition. There is no other way.”

In a statement Thursday, Kenoi stressed the essential nature of air travel.

“In a state of islands, air travel is not a nicety — it is a necessity to our economy and to our people,” he said.

Hawaiian did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new Island Air routes.

Kirsten Kahaloa, the chamber’s executive director, applauded the added service.

“Mahalo to Island Air for recognizing the relevance and importance of adding us to your flight service and providing much-needed jobs,” she said in an email. “Statistics show the growth of visitors to Kona, and this will not only support our visitor industry, but also retail, transportation, activities and more.”

The number of visitors arriving by air is increasing steadily in Hawaii. More than 1.5 million air travelers visited the Big Island in 2015, up 3.8 percent from the year previous — part of a 12.3 percent increase since 2011, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Some travelers on Thursday welcomed the idea of additional flights to help with costs, but offered they didn’t have any complaints with the status quo.

“I’m all for it if it will lower the cost of flying,” Landon Chinen said at the Kona airport. “It’s good to have some competition. That said, I like Hawaiian and will probably continue to fly with them, after all, that’s where my miles are.”

Another traveler, Brent Madison, agreed.

“It’s good that there’s going to be more options but I have no complaints with Hawaiian,” he said.

Island Air — which has been in Hawaii 35 years — originally shifted out of the Big Island market during a transition in ownership several years ago, with the new owner wanting to add Lanai to the company’s routes, Birch said. Island Air was purchased in 2013 by Ohana Airline Holdings, LLC, a company owned by Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

“At that time, Island Air only had three aircraft in the state,” Birch said. “They had to pull some routes to accommodate Lanai and to make sure the routes they had were serviced properly.”

The airline flies 64-seat ATR-72 airplanes, with 238 flights weekly around the state. Check-in and ticketing for the new Kona flights will be at Terminal 1, with departures and arrivals at Gate 5.