Hawaiian Airlines has launched an all-cargo neighbor island service that will bring it closer to its roots while expanding its shipping operations throughout the state and beyond.

In 1942 Hawaiian became the first U.S. carrier to obtain a cargo certificate.

The airline made the announcement Monday as it loaded almost 3,000 pounds of construction and household supplies in its two new ATR 72 turboprop all-cargo configuration aircraft, which were bound for disaster-stricken regions of Kauai and Hawaii island.

The all-cargo service, which started Aug. 1, will allow Hawaiian to expand its freight operations, which have been ramping up since the opening of a new modern Honolulu cargo facility last year. Service begins with flights between Hono­lulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and Lihue Airport and Hilo International Airport. Next year, with the arrival of two more ATR 72 freighters, the operation is expected to add cargo service between the Honolulu airport and airports in Kahului and Kona.

Peter Ingram, president and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines, said: “In recent years, everyone knows that we’ve made a lot of investments in the passenger side of our business, but what sometimes goes unnoticed is that we’ve been growing incredibly in our cargo operation. It has more than doubled in size from what it was two years ago.

“We’ve been investing in aircraft to support that operation as well as this wonderful facility that we at long last were able to move into last year. That’s really positioned us to be even more successful in the cargo business.”

Hawaiian already provides bulk freight and containerized shipping on over 70 scheduled trans-Pacific daily flights with its Airbus A330, A321neo and Boeing 767 aircraft. Express shipments will continue to be provided on Hawaiian’s Boeing 717s, which make approximately 170 daily flights between the neighbor islands.

Ingram said Hawaiian’s cargo and freight is about an $80 million to $90 million-a-year business that accounts for about 3 percent of the carrier’s overall operations. But there are growth opportunities in the all-new cargo fleet run by Empire Airlines, which also operates ‘Ohana by Hawaiian’s four 48-passenger ATR-42 fleet, which serves Kapalua, Molokai and Lanai.

The ATR 72 planes can accommodate up to seven LD-3 containers, the same type carried by aircraft flying Hawaiian’s trans-Pacific routes, said Brad Matheny, managing directer of cargo services at Hawaiian Airlines. Their addition allows the carrier and the clients that it serves to transfer cargo more seamlessly between the islands, Asia, the South Pacific and the mainland and compete with Aloha Air Cargo and Transair, Matheny said.

The November opening of the new 280,000-square-foot Charles I. Elliott Maintenance and Cargo Facility, which is the Honolulu hub of Hawaiian’s growing cargo business, was key to getting the new freighter operation up and running, he said.

“With the addition of the ATR 72 planes, we anticipate about 20 percent growth in carrying volume over the next year and a half to two years,” Matheny said. “We’ve already ramped up employment in anticipation. We went from 42 employees about 5-1/2 years ago to over 120. We expect continued incremental growth.”

The service is already making a difference for Kauai Habitat for Humanity and for Hope Services Hawaii, which were slated to receive donated goods Monday. On Monday’s flights were 50 boxes of discounted items from City Mill and 23 boxes of school supplies collected by Hawaiian Air employees for Pahoa Elementary.

“We’re so grateful,” said Brandee Menino, chief executive officer of Hope Services Hawaii, which is making temporary micro-shelters available to some Puna residents who have been displaced by the Kilauea eruption.