Hawaiian Airlines’ parent company has begun the process of creating a new regional subsidiary to serve the Hawaiian islands of Molokai and Lanai with a used ATR 42 it bought in late October from Dublin, Ireland’s ASL Aviation Group. A separate purchase agreement between the two companies called for delivery of another ATR 42 last month.

Scheduled for launch early next year, the new regional airline potentially poses a threat to de Havilland Dash 8-100 operator Island Air, which laid plans during the summer to double its capacity with a pair of leased ATR 72-212s and five ATR 42-320s. It took delivery of its first ATR 72 from its overhaul contractor at the end of September, but as of press time hadn’t yet placed it into service.