Mokulele Airlines broke ground yesterday on a $4.2 million hangar and maintenance facility at Honolulu International Airport.

The 14,000-square-foot facility will serve corporate jet customers arriving into Hawai'i either as a final destination or continuing on to Neighbor Islands. Passengers will be able to disembark from their private plane and immediately board a Mokulele Airlines/go!Express plane for travel to a Neighbor Island.

The go!Express flights are operated under a code-sharing agreement between interisland carrier go! and Kona-based Mokulele Airlines, which serves smaller communities across the state.

Mokulele and go!Express planes also will be serviced at the facility at 150 Kaulele Place.

Among those in attendance at the groundbreaking were Bill Boyer, chief executive officer of Mokulele Airlines; Dorvin Leis, part owner of Mokulele Airlines; Joe Bock, chief marketing officer for go! airlines; and Dan Hayes of Hawaiian Industrial Structures, the company that is building the facility. The blessing was conducted by Pastor Velma Mariano of Maui.

"In a time when there is so much doom and gloom in the news about the airline business, we are pleased to report that Mokulele Airlines is growing to meet the travel and cargo demands of Hawai'i," Boyer said.