HAWAII | AIRFARES

Go! airlines drops Hawaii inter-island fares to $1 in 12-hour sale

Associated Press
11:09 AM PDT, June 12, 2007

Oahu Travel Guide »

Hotel Guide

Restaurant Guide

Attraction Guide

Shopping Guide

Offers & Deals

Related Stories

The Hawaii inter-island airfare war reached new heights Monday as Go! airline offered 1,000 one-way tickets for $1 each.

The carrier launched the campaign to mark the one-year anniversary of its entry into the Hawaii market. Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines, which had matched most previous Go! fare cuts, said they would not match this one.

"I have been asked many times if the fares are going to get any lower," said Jonathan Ornstein, head of Go!'s parent company, Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc. "With [Monday's] special fare, I think I can say that's probably unlikely."

The company said the tickets were available online from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Hawaii time on Monday only. They're good for travel through Dec. 15 and had o have been purchased as part of a round trip.

Repeated attempts by the Associated Press to book a $1 ticket failed Monday, with Go!'s website displaying a page saying, "A system error has occurred while processing your request," adding, "Please try again."

Go! triggered an airfare war when it launched its Hawaii service, selling one-way inter-island tickets for $39, about half the price charged by Hawaiian and Aloha. It later cut rates for some tickets to $29 or less.

Aloha and Hawaiian have sued Mesa, alleging it is trying to unfairly drive them out of business.

Stu Glauberman, an Aloha spokesman, said his airline would not match the $1 offer and predicted Hawaii's travelers would "stay loyal to homegrown carriers."

"After a year of trying to break into the market, this is clearly an act of desperation," by Go!, Glauberman said.