Hawaii Superferry is launching a second O'ahu-to-Maui roundtrip that will provide afternoon/evening sailings four days a week, the company announced yesterday.

Superferry currently offers morning trips seven days a week.

Pending approval from the Public Utilities Commission, the second trip will start May 9 and operate afternoons on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The 350-foot Alakai will depart Honolulu at 3:30 p.m., arriving in Kahului at 7 p.m. It will then depart Maui at 8 p.m. and arrive on O'ahu at 11 p.m.

The seven-day-a-week morning trip will continue on its summer schedule — departing Honolulu at 6:30 a.m., arriving in Kahului at 9:30 a.m., and then leaving Maui at 11 a.m. and arriving on O'ahu at 2 p.m.

Hawaii Superferry president and chief executive John Garibaldi said in a press release that the second roundtrip will help those who prefer traveling later in the day. It will also help commercial customers, he said, "offering them the opportunity to return the same day as well as enhancing flexibility in reaching their markets."

Despite not yet securing PUC approval for its afternoon schedule, Hawaii Superferry yesterday said it is taking reservations for the second trips. The company said those trips also are at the promotional fares — $39 for a one-way passenger ticket and $55 for a one-way vehicle fares, through June 5.

The announcement came less than three weeks after Aloha Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and went out of business on March 31.

But Terry O'Halloran, Hawaii Superferry's director of business development, said the timing of a second Maui trip is part of a long-range plan and had nothing to do with the state of the airlines industry locally.

"It's always been our plan to have a second trip with one vessel doing two roundtrips," O'Halloran said. Bookings have been "positive and increasing daily," he said.

O'Halloran said the company hopes to reach its projected averages of about 400 passengers and 100 vehicles per trip soon. The Alakai can carry 866 people and 282 compact cars.

"That is what we're projecting once we get ramped up," he said. "We're not there yet but the bookings are strong and increasing daily."

The summer months also mean a calming of Hawaiian waters, he said, and a reduction in the number of rocky voyages that have left a number of Hawaii Superferry passengers seasick in the past.

The new schedule was met with a cool reception from those on Maui who have opposed a second daily roundtrip.

Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares issued a statement saying, "The Superferry's addition of four additional weekly trips to Maui comes in the wake of new developments in the travel industry and the void left by Aloha Airlines.

"I fully expect the Environmental Impact Statement to be completed for our review and comment and will continue to actively monitor its progress."

Kula resident and Superferry opponent Dick Mayer said he was unhappy that the company began taking reservations yesterday even before it received PUC approval for the additional trip.

"That's typical. They keep putting pressure on the state government to 'give us approvals right away,' " Mayer said.

O'Halloran said Hawaii Superferry does not need PUC approval for additional journeys, only for its schedule. Its summer schedule slated to begin May 1 has also not yet been approved but the company hopes to get the OK soon, he said.

Mayer said people who have been monitoring the number of passengers and vehicles count the vessel averaging about 20 percent full, and said he doubts the increased trips will help the fledgling business stay afloat.

O'Halloran said the company has not yet determined its regular pricing structure once the promotion ends.

Hawaii Superferry has not determined when it will return to Kaua'i, O'Halloran said. Alakai has not landed on the Garden Isle since shortly after it began service last August as a result of protesters who blocked the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor.

As for a second ferry and service between Kawaihae and Honolulu, O'Halloran said the company still plans to reach both of those goals in early 2009.