Mokulele Airlines to begin flights to Chicago, London in April

Mokulele Airlines will begin flying weekly charter flights to the Chicago area in April, and will expand the flights to London the following month.The Honolulu-based airline recently received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to flights to Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford, Ill., from Honolulu, and to fly from Rockford to London Stanstead Airport, airline spokesman Sean Alvarez said.

The flights will be conducted by Charter World Solutions, doing business as Mokulele Tours, he said.Mokulele Airlines, which currently flies Hawaii interisland flights using four nine-passenger Cessna Caravan turboprop aircraft, was acquired from go!Mokulele parent Mesa Airlines in November by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Transpac Aviation, which is owned by CEO Ron Hansen.Hansen plans to lease a Boeing 767-200ER aircraft from Air Transportation International in Little Rock, Ark., for the flights to Rockford, which is about 100 miles outside of Chicago, and to Stanstead, which is about 38 miles north of London.The Honolulu-Rockford flights are tentatively set to start on April 13, with the return flight on April 15. The Rockford-London flights are scheduled to start on May 4, with the return on May 6, Alvarez said.