Jaunted

Hawaii

Hawaii Air Wars: Draw Blood

December 20, 2006 at 3:00 PM | 0 Comments

(Alex Salkever is the editor of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama.com and a general travel maven on all things Hawaii.)

As many of you know, there has been a wicked interisland airfare war going on in Hawaii for the past six months or so. Precipitated by the entry of new carrier Go! (which is a subsidiary or mainland budget carrier Mesa Air), seats have gotten so cheap--as low as $19 one-way--that locals have started flying outer island on day trips. Compare that to a year ago when flying outerisland cost a minimum of $160 round trip, in most cases.

How long can this go on? Blood is clearly starting to flow. Big incumbent Aloha Airlines (one of two large airlines in the islands) reported a $10 million loss which the company CEO attributed to the ongoing fare war. I would predict this will all end badly within a year, as three interisland airlines are probably too many, with more and more travelers hopping non-stops from the mainland rather than landing in Honolulu and swapping planes.

[Photo: 808Talk]

Related Stories:
· Aloha Airlines reports $10M loss [Pacific Biz News]