Lānaʻi Air Is Coming to Molokai

Left to right, Lānaʻi Air pilots Kevin Ng, Kaui Kealoha and Chaz Edlao, ramp manager Herman Hermano, operations director Jolette Silva and Western Aircraft Chief Pilot Remii Tanaka. Photo by Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

Lānaʻi Air recently announced it will start operating daily flights from Molokai to Honolulu this summer. Aside from providing an alternative to Mokulele Airlines, company officials said the larger planes will offer a more comfortable experience, plus the new service will create several jobs for island residents. 

“We’re excited about getting to start service to Molokai,” said Kurt Matsumoto, president of Pulama Lānaʻi, Lānaʻi Air’s parent company.

Lānaʻi Air Operations Director Jolette Silva said they will start with four daily flights to Honolulu by mid-August — two in the morning and two in the late afternoon. 

The flights will be on a 19-seater Cessna Sky Courier 408, a twin-engine, high-wing turboprop aircraft designed for regional commuter operations and cargo.

“You can stand up in the cabin, and it has bigger freight capacity than the (Cessna) Caravan that Mokulele flies right now,” Matsumoto said.

The news of the new service to Honolulu came out just as Mokulele Airlines — the only passenger-airline company currently servicing the island — announced a $10 increase in their airfare, now priced from $124 to $154 for direct flights to Honolulu.

However, Lānaʻi Air won’t necessarily compete with Mokulele’s prices. Their new service to Honolulu will cost $169, but it will include two pieces of luggage. So, in some cases, their fares might be comparable because Mokulele passengers without a corporate account pay $20 per checked luggage.

“We know that there’s a lot of people that fly Mokulele,” Matsumoto said. “We’re not trying to compete and put Mokulele out of business, we just are coming in to provide an option for people on Molokai.”

He added the contrast between the two services will be “pretty evident,” with the two different kinds of aircrafts and a different fare structure.

“It’s very simple and it’s easy to work with,” he said of their service. “Give us a shot. Check the performance out. We think that you’ll like it, and we think that you’ll come back.”

Matsumoto said state Sen. Lynn DeCoite is the reason Lānaʻi Air is coming to Molokai. About a year ago, she invited company officials to fly to Molokai to consider adding service to the island.

“That’s what prompted us to look at adding that as a scheduled route,” Matsumoto said. Since then, the company started planning and working with the airports. They had to wait until they acquired two additional aircrafts so the service could be reliable from the start, he said.

“That’s super exciting,” DeCoite said, adding there have been many requests in the last few years for another airline to service Molokai. “I’ve met with every airline, and as the Senate Tourism chair, I have the privilege of working with many of the airlines, which have taken no interest whatsoever (in servicing Molokai).”

DeCoite said she initially floated the idea during a meeting with Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison about two years ago. The billionaire, who acquired 98% of Lānaʻi Island in 2012, also owns Lānaʻi Air. He told DeCoite if he expanded service to Molokai, he was concerned residents could think he was interested in buying Molokai Ranch, which was not the case.

Ellison also told DeCoite at that time that he did not need “bad publicity,” and his commitment was to service Lānaʻi.

“I said, ‘Only ask I get right now is, if you do have the capability, will you try to make the attempt to come (to Molokai)?’” DeCoite said. “This is two years later, and I am super grateful that he’s coming.” 

The new airline service will bring at least 17 full-time jobs for Molokai residents. Silva said the company has already started advertising for many positions, including manager, ramp agents and guest service agents. 

DeCoite said the roomier planes will have better wheelchair capabilities, and will be able to fit entire sports teams from Molokai competing on Oʻahu. 

The larger-capacity planes will require TSA at Molokai Airport. TSA stopped operations at the airport after Aloha Island Air cancelled its flights to Molokai in 2014. The airline shut down operations completely in November 2017.

Silva said because the way Lānaʻi Air schedules their flights, and because their planes have more than nine seats, TSA requires them to conduct the screening for the carry-on items. So, the TSA setup will return to the airport, but the screening will be operated by Lānaʻi Air employees.

“We are the ones charged with that responsibility,” Matsumoto said.

Silva said if everything goes as planned, by beginning of July, people will be able to start booking flights for August on the Lānaʻi Air website.

Lānaʻi Air is owned by Pulama Lānaʻi, but the company is operated by Western Aircraft, one of the West’s largest aircraft services companies, operating since 1957.

Visit www.lanaiair.com for more information.