Hawaiian Air passenger traffic up

Hawaiian Airlines carried more passengers in January than the year-earlier period as the carrier increased its number of flights.

Passenger traffic rose 3.5 percent to 691,932 from 668,737 while its available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, jumped 19.2 percent to 959.2 million from 804.9 million. Hawaiian’s load factor, or the percentage of seats filled, edged up 0.2 percentage points to 82.4 percent from 82.2 percent.

Revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, rose 19.4 percent to 790 million from 661.6 million.

Central Pacific stock sinks again

Central Pacific Financial Corp.’s stock plunged again yesterday, bringing its two-day decline to 17.5 percent, or $5.28, after implementing a 1-for-20 reverse stock split at the close of trading on Wednesday.

The shares closed yesterday down $1.24, or 4.7 percent, at $24.92, their fifth down day in a row.

Bess Press buys local publisher

Honolulu-based Bess Press has acquired another local publishing company, Editions Ltd., which is known for specializing in high-quality, photography-rich books and has been a major contributor in capturing classic elements of Hawaii’s history and culture.

"This acquisition provides us with the opportunity to continually meet the demand of niche market consumers and to perpetuate the high integrity and quality of the Editions Ltd.’s book list in a contemporary marketplace comprised of both print and digital forms," Bess Press Director David DeLuca said.

"Book buyers and all those interested in the preservation of Hawaiian tradition and culture can expect to see many titles from Editions Ltd., at one time out of print, coming back with a flourish."

KQMQ-FM drops Top 40 format

Bob Marley tunes wafted from KQMQ-FM 93.1 beginning at noon yesterday as the station prepared to change its format from what used to be known as Top 40 come Monday.

Director of Programming Rick Thomas would not confirm persistent industry speculation that the station would adopt a Hawaiian music format. A logo indicating KQMQ would join several neighbor island stations in playing the "Na Mele" traditional Hawaiian music format was posted on an employee’s Facebook page days ago. Thomas would only say the logo was one of several proposed designs.

Honda Fit tops Toyota Prius in Japan

TOKYO » Honda’s Fit subcompact overtook Toyota’s Prius gasoline-electric hybrid as Japan’s top-selling car in January, its first return to that spot in nearly two years.

The figures released yesterday by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association show how the end of government subsidies for green cars have hurt sales of the Prius after holding the top spot in Japan for 20 straight months. It remains the world’s top-selling hybrid.

Fit sales in January surged nearly 14 percent from a year earlier to 14,873 vehicles, about half of them hybrids, the Tokyo-based maker of the Odyssey minivan, Accord sedan and Asimo robot said.

The last time the Fit was a top seller was in March 2009.

On the Move

» Queen Lili’uokalani Trust has hired Tanya M. Souza as manager for the trust’s interpretive center, which is scheduled to open in early 2012. She was previously an archaeologist at Pacific Legacy.

» Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has promoted Grant K.T. Kubota to vice president of wealth management. He has extensive experience in philanthropic, estate and retirement planning as well as portfolio analysis and investment management. Prior to working for the firm, Kubota was a certified public accountant at KPMG LLP.

» American Savings Bank has hired Kaulana Park as senior vice president of community and business development. He has 25 years of experience in business development, retail banking, government and community leadership, including as director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

» Dr. Shane Morita has received the "2011 North Central Cancer Treatment Group Junior Faculty Academic Community Partnership Award." He will use the three-year award to conduct research on ethnic differences of melanoma. Morita is a surgical oncologist at the Queen’s Medical Center and the University of Hawaii.