Mesa Air grounds Lake Havasu route

Mesa Air Group Inc. is bowing out of its Phoenix to Lake Havasu route saying it could not cover costs.

Service will end May 6. According to Orbitz quotes, roundtrip tickets have been ranging from $312 to more than $400. But Mesa said it could not operate profitably to Lake Havasu, which no other scheduled airline serves.

Mesa also operates go!, an interisland service in Hawaii which charges $29 or less for tickets. Chief Executive Jonathan Ornstein has said he wants to emulate the model of the Irish discount carrier Ryanair, which loses money on flights but makes it up on referral fees for Web site links to other services.

Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines, which routinely match the money-losing fares to hold onto market share, have asserted that Mesa is operating at a loss in Hawaii to force them to do the same, draining their cash reserves. Ornstein has denied that.

Phoenix-based Mesa Air (NASDAQ:MESA) also operates under the banners of US Airways Express/America West Express, United Express and Delta Connection.

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