Southern Airways announced today that it has acquired Mokulele Airlines in Hawaii. Southern plans to keep the Mokulele brand, while operating all flights on the Southern Airways FAA operating certificate. The acquisition, which closed Friday, makes Southern the nation’s largest commuter airline operator. Prior to the acquisition, Southern operated 600 weekly flights across 20 cities in the Gulf South, the mid-Atlantic and Florida. The deal adds Hawaii and California to Southern Airways’ portfolio, is the carrier’s third deal in 4 years. Southern Airways, which was founded in 2013 and will now serve 30 cities stretched across 5 time zones. Mokulele, which was most recently owned by Transpac Aviation Inc., served 11 cities with 787 weekly departures. The 15-aircraft carrier also serves 4 rural communities under the government’s Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which ensures that smaller communities are linked to the National Air Transportation System, with Federal subsidy when necessary.