Hawaiian Airlines is filling some of the void created when Island Air pulled out of the Lanai market.

The state’s largest carrier said Wednesday that ‘Ohana by Hawaiian, its interisland turboprop service, will expand Lanai service with an additional flight beginning May 16. ‘Ohana, which operates a 48-seat ATR-42 aircraft, will increase service between Honoluluand Lanai to five times a day.

‘Ohana will be the only airline serving Lanai with regularly scheduled flights once Island Air stops service beginning April 1. Island Air, which operates 64-seat ATR-72s, had been flying twice a day between Honolulu and Lanai.

Hawaiian restarted Honolulu-Lanai service on March 18, 2014, after not having flown to the island for nearly a decade.

Lanai tourism fell 14.5 percent in 2015 and 24.9 percent in January of this year after the shutdowns of the island’s two luxury hotels due to renovation. The 217-room Four Seasons Resort Lanai, previously known as the Manele Bay Hotel, reopened Feb. 1 afterbeing closed for eight months. Four Seasons said the 102-room Lodge at Koele, which has been closed since June, will reopen between October and December.

Hawaiian Electric wins technology award

Hawaiian Electric Cos. said Wednesday the electric utility has won an award for a technology that would solve technical problems related to connecting high numbers of rooftop solar to the grid.

HECO won Renewable Integration Project of the Year at the 26th annual DistribuTECH Conference, the nation’s largest annual meeting focused on electricity transmission and distribution, for the rollout of Gridco Systems In-Line Power Regulator. This project can enable HECO to monitor and control the voltage level and help increase the connection of private rooftop photovoltaic systems.

The equipment lets utility system operators monitor two-way power flows of electricity on a neighborhood circuit in real time and actively manage the voltage service to customers as solar power varies throughout the day.

Engineers from HECO, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light are working on the project as a team led by Dora Nakafuji, HECO director of renewable energy planning in the Grid Technologies Department. Tests are going on in Kaneohe and on Molokai. The utility is looking for sites on Hawaii island.

VW’s top U.S. executive out amid scandal

WASHINGTON >> Volkswagen’s top U.S. executive is stepping down amid the company’s ongoing emissions cheating scandal, the company announced Wednesday.

U.S. President and Chief Executive Michael Horn is leaving “to pursue other opportunities effective immediately,” the automaker said in a statement. He had been with the German automaker for 25 years, assuming his most recent post in 2014.

Horn’s sudden departure comes as the company continues to grapple with the fallout from its admission last year that nearly 600,000 cars were sold in the U.S. with software that regulators say was designed to cheat on required emissions tests.

Wholesale inventories up, but sales fall

WASHINGTON >> U.S. wholesale businesses increased their stockpiles by the largest amount in five months, but their sales declined for the sixth time in the past seven months.

The Commerce Department said inventories held by wholesale businesses rose 0.3 percent in January, the biggest increase since August.

Sales at the wholesale level dropped a sharp 1.3 percent. That the biggest setback since a similar fall in November.

Amazon leases 20 jets to improve delivery

NEW YORK >> Amazon is taking to the skies.

The e-commerce powerhouse has finalized an agreement to lease 20 Boeing jets from Air Transport Services Group Inc. as it expands its U.S. delivery capabilities.

Amazon says the goal is not to compete with package delivery carriers such as FedEx Corp. and UPS, but to work on improving its own logistics to offer faster delivery for customers as well as provide shipping services for third-party sellers on the site.

Nasdaq to buy International Exchange

Nasdaq agreed Wednesday to buy the International Securities Exchange for $1.1 billion from Deutsche Boerse of Germany, in yet another deal among exchange operators as even bigger takeovers loom.

Deutsche Boerse itself is in talks to merge with the London Stock Exchange — once a target of a takeover bid by Nasdaq — while the Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is weighing making a counterbid for the British market operator.

Buying the ISE, which comprises three stock options markets, will help Nasdaq bolster its presence in a fiercely competitive industry that has been growing faster than the traditional equity exchange business. Other market operators with big options venues include the Chicago Board Options Exchange and BATS Global Markets.

ISE’s exchanges represent more than 15 percent of all trading in United States stock options, according to a statement by Nasdaq.

Men’s Wearhouse owner paring stores

Tailored Brands Inc. plans to shutter about 250 locations, including all its outlet stores, as the owner of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank copes with sluggish sales.

The company will close 80 to 90 standard Jos. A. Bank stores, as well as 58 outlet stores, according to a statement Wednesday.

Tailored Brands did not provide a list of store locations earmarked for closure.

On The Move

>> PBS Hawaii has announced new members on its board of directors:

Jason Haruki is vice president and senior investment officer at First Hawaiian Bank’s Institutional Wealth Management division. He previously worked at Bishop Street Capital Management as well as for First Hawaiian Bank’s Trust Department.

Huy Vo is director of resort marketing for the upcoming Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach. He previously worked in various positions with Hawaiian Airlines, Communications Pacific, Bright Light Marketing and the Kahala Hotel & Resort.

>> Kaiser Permanente has announced Darren Kasai as its new senior director of clinic operations on Maui, which is based out of Wailuku Medical Office and serves Kaiser ’s facilities on the Valley Isle. Kasai was previously a regional administrator for critical accesshospitals in the Maui region of Hawaii Health Systems Corp. and an executive director at Alberta Heartland Primary Care Network in Canada, as well as a Navy Reserve veteran officer serving in a Level 1 trauma center at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center inGermany.

Ship Ahoy!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures: