BUSINESS BRIEFS
Alaska starts Kona-Seattle service
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Alaska Airlines inaugurated daily, year-round service between Seattle and Kona yesterday.
The daily flights have a scheduled 8:40 a.m. departure from Seattle, arriving in Kona at 1 p.m. The return flight departs Kona at 2 p.m., arriving in Seattle at 9:40 p.m.
"This new direct flight on Alaska Airlines is a very positive way to kick off our winter travel season," said George Applegate, executive director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau. "It's one of the bright spots on our island's economic horizon."
A contingent of tourism officials and industry were on hand to greet the 157 passengers with flower lei and Hawaiian music. With the new flight, Kona becomes the fourth destination that Alaska Airlines serves in Hawai'i.
AIRLINES OFFER $49 ONE-WAY FARES
Holiday fares of $49 each way were announced yesterday by go! airlines for interisland travel from tomorrow through Dec. 31. Hawaiian Airlines said it would match the offer.
Tickets must be purchased by tomorrow. Some restrictions apply.
go! reported yesterday that its flights were 70.8 percent full in October, up from 67.3 percent in October 2007.
The airline, which is owned by Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc., said it flew 63,482 passengers in October, compared with 53,559 the same month a year earlier.
go! said 82 percent of its flights were on time.
In addition, go! announced a partnership with Mondial Assistance that will give go! passengers the option to buy Mondial's Access America brand of travel insurance and assistance services.
CBRE AIMS TO BE 'CARBON NEUTRAL'
The Honolulu office of CB Richard Ellis said it has set a goal of becoming "carbon neutral" by 2010 in all the office space the company occupies in the state.
The firm also said it is helping with energy-efficiency programs in more than 8 million square feet of commercial property and facilities that it manages for clients.
"We are committing to this effort because it is the right thing to do and we understand how to operate in a changing marketplace to our clients advantage," said Joseph Haas, CBRE Hawaii office senior managing director.
"We are changing our work habits and our workplace at CBRE and encouraging our clients to do whatever they can to become more carbon neutral."
CBRE said it hopes to reach its goal through a combination of energy savings, more efficient space utilization, carbon emissions reductions and, if necessary, through investments in carbon offsets at the corporate level.
PAPAYA PRODUCTION DOWN IN SEPT.
Hawai'i papaya production fell 11 percent in September from the same month a year earlier, but was still 2 percent higher over the first nine months of this year compared with the same period last year, according to the latest estimates from the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Farmers produced an estimated 2.5 million pounds of papaya in September. Production this year through September totaled 22.5 million pounds.
Growers are expected to receive an estimated 47 cents per pound of fresh papaya in September, 3 cents less than in August but 10 cents more than a year earlier.
The NASS said papaya growers experienced mainly humid and sunny conditions with some scattered showers in September. Flowering was steady and fruit development improved slightly in some fields.
