Mokulele Airlines adding service between Kahului and Lanai City

Southern Airways announced today that Mokulele Airlines, the carrier that it purchased in February, will add a new route between Kahului and Lanai City in June.

Southern Airways, which was founded in 2013 and has been on a strong growth trajectory over the last several years, made the announcement this afternoon during a press conference at Mokulele Airlines’ terminal at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Oahu.

Southern’s Feb. 8 purchase of Mokulele Airlines made it the nation’s second-largest commuter airline. The acquisition, which was the carrier’s third deal in four years, added Hawaii and California to Southern Airways’ portfolio. With the purchase of Mokulele, it serves 30 cities stretched across five time zones.

Shortly after entering Hawaii, Southern laid off about 10 percent of Mokulele Airlines staff, about two dozen employees, who were mostly ground staff, from the 300 or so people that it employs in Hawaii.

At that time, Southern’s chief marketing officer Keith Sisson said the carrier hoped that the cuts would be short-lived and that it would enter expansion mode soon.

“The addition of Lanai City gives us yet another route from our growing Kahului hub,” said Stan Little, the airline’s chairman and CEO in a statement. “Not only will this route be great for locals, business travelers, government employees and tourists needing to make day trips between the two islands, but with our network of flights at Kahului, we can offer one-stop connections between Lanai City and five other Hawaiian airports.”

The twice-daily service between Kahului and Lanai City, which begins June 17, brings the total count of cities in the Hawaii islands served by Mokulele to nine.

Fares begin at $57. Departures from Kahului to Lanai City will be at 7:05 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. daily, while departures from Lanai City to Kahului will be at 7:50 a.m. and 5 p.m.