Surf Air Mobility’s Mokulele Airlines has secured a new four-year US Department of Transportation Essential Air Service contract to continue scheduled flights serving Lanaʻi, Hawaiʻi, in a deal worth $19.4 million in subsidy support excluding passenger revenue. The award covers service through August 2030 and preserves the island’s only scheduled air link, with flights connecting Lanaʻi to Honolulu and Kahului on Maui.
The route was selected through a competitive process under the federal EAS programme, which subsidises air service to small communities that would otherwise have limited access to scheduled flights. The new agreement doubles the term of the previous contract and covers 63 weekly round trips, or 126 weekly flights.
Of those services, 42 weekly round trips will operate to Honolulu and 21 to Kahului. Surf Air Mobility highlighted its existing Hawaiʻi infrastructure and interline connectivity as part of the bid, while the contract secures recurring subsidy-backed revenue for the regional operator over the next four years.