KAILUA-KONA — Optimism blew in with Island Air’s first flight to Kona on Tuesday morning.
KAILUA-KONA — Optimism blew in with Island Air’s first flight to Kona on Tuesday morning.
The roar of twin propellers sounded the start of five daily flights between Kona International Airport and Honolulu, adding 320 inbound seats to the island’s airlift at a time when airline and tourism officials are waxing enthusiastic about West Hawaii as an emerging destination. The airline last flew to Kona in 2012.
“In March we expanded to Kauai, and today is another step forward for Island Air and all of our people,” said the company’s president and CEO David Uchiyama during a celebration that marked the airline’s return.
The airline’s executives aren’t getting specific just yet, but they’re eyeing further expansion into the island’s market, which saw steadily decreasing competition with the folding of Aloha Airlines passenger operations in 2008 and the closure of Mesa Airlines’ go! in 2014.
The airline plans this year to add two new aircraft to its fleet of five 64-seat ATR-72 planes while testing the depth of the market along the way. Right now, Kona bookings are running about 65 percent capacity, which is what the airline expected, Uchiyama said. Island Air offers 238 flights per week between Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island.
There is definitely a buzz surrounding the Kona market these days, said Ross Birch, executive director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau.
There has been a 30 percent increase in airlift to Kona during the past three years, Birch said, and the first quarter of this year posted a 10 percent bump compared the same period in 2015. Other carriers, including Korean Air and Jin Air, are looking at adding seasonal flights, Birch said.
“Adding another interisland access is going to bump us up to the next level,” Birch said of the Island Air kickoff. “There’s definitely enough market to go around. The exciting thing is knowing we have the demand.”
On Tuesday, it was just nice for the airline and its 22 new employees — and for passengers — that the first day at Terminal 1 and Gate 5 went off without a hitch.
Roger Jensen travels frequently to sell construction equipment. Waiting for Island Air’s first flight out, Jensen recalled how the competition folded and Hawaiian Airlines stood alone as the island’s one significant carrier. Like a lot of Big Island residents, he welcomed the new competition.
“I had a go! flight cancel once and couldn’t get to Honolulu on any flight that day,” he said.
Visiting from California for a honeymoon here, Shuai Zhang and Yuhua Xiong stepped off the plane into a celebration complete with hula, song, lei and food.
“It was very stable,” Zhang said about the flight. “It’s a small plane and I thought there would be a lot of turbulence, but none at all.”
Email Bret Yager at byager@westhawaiitoday.com.