Airlines Fill Gap Caused by Aloha Airlines Closing

State tourism officials are confident that airlines providing flights between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii will quickly fill the void left by the sudden shut down of Honolulu-based carrier Aloha Airlines on March 31. Officials report that interisland airlines have moved swiftly to boost air travel capacity around the Hawaiian Islands. Now, there are three remaining airlines with significant capacity: Hawaiian Airlines, go! and Island Air.

The three carriers have added about 10,000 new seats to interisland service by flying more frequent schedules and by adding aircraft. This should adequately fill the gap left by Aloha, which would normally carry about 9,000 interisland passengers daily at this time of the year.

"Some passengers holding Aloha Airlines tickets over the next few days may not get the exact flight time that they want, but they will get to their interisland destination within a reasonable time," said John Monahan, president and CEO of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Aloha was not a major carrier of passengers between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. The company had about a six-percent share of the transpacific market flying Boeing 737s to Oakland, San Diego, Sacramento, Orange County, Las Vegas and Reno. Passengers who might have booked Aloha should not have difficulty finding alternate flights on other major carriers serving the West Coast including Hawaiian Airlines, United, American, Northwest, ATA, Continental, US Airways, Alaska Airlines and Delta.

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau has created a special webpage at www.gohawaii.com/alohaairlines to inform stranded Aloha passengers about the various offers that are being provided by transpacific and interisland carriers. (MR)