Hawaiian, Aloha raise airfares $5; go! stays pat

It is now going to cost at least $44 one way to travel between islands on the state's two largest airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines boosted its fares $5 yesterday to match Aloha Airlines, which had tried unsuccessfully for the last month to raise prices due to soaring fuel costs.

But Mesa Air Group's go! -- which triggered a fare war when it entered the Hawaii market in June 2006 -- kept its lowest fare at $39 and said it was studying its competitors' actions.

Aloha, which rescinded a $5 increase early last month after its rivals failed to match it, raised fares $10 last week only to cut that in half on Thursday. This time, Hawaiian matched.

Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner declined to elaborate.

Aloha spokesman Stu Glauberman said Aloha backed off from the higher price to remain competitive.

"The $5 increase doesn't cover our higher fuel costs, but it helps," he said.

Joe Bock, chief marketing officer for go!, said the airline was not sure that a fare increase going into the slower season of the year would produce more revenue.

"As a result of any fare increase, it could lower demand and, in fact, result in less revenue," Bock said. "With 30 percent of our seats still available, we're not sure that a fare increase will help sell that remaining inventory."