Business Briefs

Hawaiian begins turboprop flights to Lanai

Hawaiian Airlines resumed service to Lanai on Tuesday, after a nearly 10-year absence, with an ‘Ohana by Hawaiian flight to the island.

‘Ohana, Hawaiian’s turboprop service, began operations March 11 with flights to Molokai. The Lanai service will operate twice daily using a 48-seat ATR-42 aircraft.

"We are very excited to once again have all of our islands connected through Hawaiian Airlines and our new ‘Ohana by Hawaiian turboprop service," said Hawaiian Airlines Executive Vice President Peter Ingram.

‘Ohana will compete with Island Air, which is owned by billionaire Larry Ellison, who bought 98 percent of Lanai in 2012 for a reported $300 million.

2 isle beaches gain global recognition

Users of travel site TripAdvisor.com rank two Hawaii beaches among the best in the world.

Lanikai Beach is ranked at No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 8 in the world, and Kaanapali Beach is at No. 2 in the U.S. and No. 16 in the world. They are the only U.S. beaches on the global list.

The second annual TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice awards for Beaches ranks seven Hawaii beaches among the top 10 in the U.S.

On the Best in the U.S. list, Lanikai and Kaanapali Beaches ranked above Florida’s top-rated beach, Siesta Key Public Beach, which came in third. The Florida beach is engulfed on the list by other Hawaii beaches, including No. 4 Hanalei Beach on Kauai, No. 5 Waianapanapa State Park in Hana, Maui, and No. 6 Wailea Beach, also on Maui.

The rest of the top 10: Hunting Island State Park, Beaufort, S.C., at No. 7; Maniniowali Beach (Kua Bay) in Kailua-Kona at No. 8; St. Pete Beach, Fla., at No. 9; and at No. 10, Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve on Oahu.

Topping the world list is Baia do Sancho, in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil, followed by second-ranked Grace Bay in Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and at No. 3, Flamenco Beach in Culebra, Puerto Rico.

Fund to aid Maui small businesses expands

Eight small businesses in Maui County in industries ranging from agriculture to manufacturing to retail hope to use a new revolving fund to expand their operations.

The $1 million Economic Development Revolving Fund, administered by the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, was designed to strengthen and diversify the county’s economy through various means, including by supporting existing businesses and promoting job creation. The fund was announced in late February.

"By providing the capital, we provide opportunities for business to expand and hire new people and buy more goods and services from our community," Mayor Alan Ara­kawa said in a statement.

Hawaiian Air topped on-time list in January

Hawaiian Airlines, which has led the nation in punctuality for the past 10 years, started out 2014 in the same position as its 92.8 percent on-time performance topped all 12 reporting U.S. carriers in January. Hawaiian easily beat the national average of 67.7 percent.

The state’s largest airline also had the fewest flight cancellations with just one cancellation out of 6,019 flights, ranked second for fewest mishandled bags with 2.41 reports for every 1,000 passengers served, and was third for fewest consumer complaints with 0.97 per 100,000 passengers, according to data Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

ON THE MOVE

Mobi PCS has named Keith Casey director of network engineering and operations. He was previously a senior manager of corporate core network engineering at Cricket Communications/ Leap Wireless in San Diego.

First Hawaiian Bank has promoted Alan Arizumi to vice chairman and wealth management group manager. He has more than 30 years of banking experience.

Xerox Hawaii has appointed David Weiss to marketing representative at the Hawaii island office. Weiss was previously at American Life Insurance Co. in Hilo.

Aqua Hotels & Resorts has named the following to management positions:

»Rodolfo "Rudy" Fao at Luana Waikiki. Fao was previously a general manager of the Volcano House on Hawaii island.

»Joshua Gahret at Aqua Pacific Monarch. Gahret previously worked at Hotel Hana Maui, Waikiki Beach Tower and Fairmont Kea Lani.