(officially Hawaii Island Air, Inc., doing business as Island Air) is an independent
American commuter
Airline based in
Honolulu ,
Hawaii ,
USA . It operates scheduled inter-island passenger services in Hawaii. Its main base is
Honolulu International Airport 1 on
Oahu , with a hub at
Kahului Airport on
Maui . With approximately eighty-eight daily flights, Island Air is the leading commuter carrier in Hawaii.
The airline maintains
Code Sharing and
Frequent Flyer agreements with
Aloha Airlines ,
Continental Airlines ,
Hawaiian Airlines , and
United Airlines . It also operates its own frequent flyer program, Cloud 9.
Island Air was incorporated in
1980 by
Colorado -based Consolidated Oil and Gas as Princeville Airways. It began scheduled services on
September 9 ,
1980 between Honolulu and
Princeville using two
DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft. It served a regular commuter route between Princeville and Honolulu, primarily for Princeville Resort hotel guests. The Princeville Airways fleet consisted of eight DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft.
In May
1987 , Consolidated Oil and Gas sold Princeville Airways to Aloha Air Group, the parent company of Aloha Airlines. Princeville Airways was renamed Aloha IslandAir and served the growing inter-island commuter needs that Aloha Airlines could not accommodate with its larger jetliners. In June
1992 , Aloha IslandAir registered the name Island Air as its trade name. In
1995 , newly renamed Island Air was granted certification by the
Federal Aviation Administration to operate larger aircraft to serve the burgeoning commuter market in Hawaii. In April of that year, Island Air took possession of its first thirty-seven seat
De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft.
In December
2003 , it was announced that Gavarnie Holding, LLC would purchase Aloha IslandAir from the Aloha AirGroup, making Island Air Hawaii's third largest independent airline. The purchase was completed on
May 11 ,
2004 and the company was renamed Hawaii Island Air, Inc., although the airline continued to do business as "Island Air." After the purchase, Island Air expanded its business, acquiring more aircraft and flying new routes.
Island Air is wholly owned by Gavarnie Holding and has 400 employees (at March
2007 ).
Island Air operates services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (at December ,
Honolulu ,
Hoolehua ,
Kahului ,
Kapalua ,
Lihue ,
Kona and
Lanai City .
In addition to scheduled service, the airline makes its Dash 8 aircraft available for inter-island charter flights, and has a
Challenger 601 Business Jet available for worldwide charter flights.
In December
2006 , the airline confirmed that it was in discussions to provide and operate aircraft for
BAG Aviation Holdings , which acquired seventeen commuter flight slots at the
Long Beach Airport in
Long Beach, California . Island Air will also be providing employees for the operation. A minimum of three aircraft, both Dash 8-100 and Q400, will be provided.
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The Island Air fleet includes the following aircraft (at December
2006 )
34:
The airline took delivery of a Bombardier Q400 in March 2006 and on a five year lease. In September 2006, the airline announced that it was withdrawing the aircraft from inter-island service the following month, with delivery of an additional two Q400s rescheduled to 2007. The airline has since returned all Q400 aircraft and has no plans to return these aircraft to service.
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