Aug 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has dismissed a lawsuit

that sought to block Alaska Airlines' plan to buy Hawaiian

Airlines for $1.9 billion, a deal the consumer plaintiffs said

would cut routes and raise prices.

Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii in a

Monday order said the airline passengers who brought the case

had not shown they have legal standing to sue over the merger.

"They allege no personal connection to either airline that

would plausibly establish a concrete or particularized harm,"

Watson wrote in his order dismissing the lawsuit.

Alaska Airlines in a statement said it welcomed the

decision, and said the merger will "expand benefits and choice

for consumers."

An attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond

to a request for comment.

The merger, announced last year, still faces U.S. regulatory

review by the U.S. Justice Department. A spokesperson for the

department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month, Alaska and Hawaiian said they were cooperating

with the DOJ probe and had agreed to extend the review period

until Aug. 15.

Eight airline passengers from Hawaii, California and other

states sued to stop the Alaskan Airlines deal in April, arguing

it would violate U.S. antitrust law.

Their lawsuit said "the current trend toward concentration,

the lessening of competition and the tendency to create a

monopoly in the airlines industry is unmatched, unparalleled,

and dangerous."

Alaska Airlines, the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, countered

that the merger would give customers greater access to more

travel destinations. It called the plaintiffs "serial litigants"

who presented "boilerplate" claims.

Hawaiian Airlines was not a defendant in the lawsuit.

The case is Warren Yoshimoto et al v. Alaska Airlines and

Alaska Air Group ( ALK ), U.S. District Court for the District of

Hawaii, No. 1:24-cv-00173.

For plaintiffs: Terence O'Toole of Starn O'Toole Marcus &

Fisher; and Joseph Alioto of Alioto Law Firm

For Alaska Air ( ALK ): Courtney Dyer, Stephen McIntyre, Anna

Pletcher and Pete Herrick of O'Melveny & Myers

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