Hawaiian Airlines passenger traffic up in January

Hawaiian Airlines carried more passengers in January than a year ago as it expanded service and brought in larger aircraft.

The state’s largest airline said today it transported 738,981 people, up 6.8 percent from 691,932 a year earlier. The load factor, or percentage of seats filled, edged up 1 percent to 83.4 percent from 82.4 percent. 

Available seat miles, or one seat transported one mile, increased 11.4 percent to 1.1 billion from 959.2 million while revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger transported one mile, rose 12.9 percent to 891.5 million from 790 million.