Hawaiian Airlines (HA, Honolulu) launched regional dedicated-freighter services on August 13 with flights between Honolulu and each of Lihue and Hilo.

The flights are operated by Empire Airlines (EM, Coeur d'Alene) with ATR72-200Fs featuring the Ohana by Hawaiian brand. The regional specialist has so far taken delivery of two ATR - Avions de Transport Régional freighters and expects one more. After the delivery of the third, which is currently undergoing conversion at Coeur d'Alene, the carrier will add Kahului and Kona to its nascent regional cargo network.

Hawaiian Airlines has been operating ad-hoc cargo flights between the airports, as well as test flights since late 2017.

The first flights carried humanitarian relief and construction materials to support disaster relief projects in Hanalei on Kaua‘i and Puna on the Island of Hawai‘i.

Empire Airlines also operates six ATR72-200Fs and eleven ATR42-300Fs on behalf of FedEx, as well as four passenger configured ATR42-500s on behalf of Hawaiian.