For many, an airport is an important gateway to a travel destination—a crucial first and last impression that sticks with you. At Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, however, that impression is generally lackluster.
In the most recent J.D. Power North America Airport Satisfaction Study, Honolulu Airport improved its position slightly among large airports, moving from second-worst to fourth-worst in the U.S.A.
Despite billions of dollars in modernization efforts, ongoing and widespread criticism highlights outdated facilities, poor design, subpar amenities, and poor maintenance. As one traveler commented on Beat of Hawaii, “Comfort should be a priority over uniqueness, and HNL is far from comfortable or user-friendly.”
Outdated infrastructure and poor design.
One of the most common complaints about HNL is the dated and inflexibly designed infrastructure, as seen in our lead photo. Much of the airport retains a 1970s aesthetic that feels out of place in a state that markets itself as a luxury destination. Worn carpeting (some getting slowly replaced), mismatched signage, and worn-out old furniture greet travelers instead of the modern facilities in other tourist destination airports.
Honolulu Airport has a rich history, but its facilities reveal decades of aging infrastructure and only limited, incremental updates. Originally opened nearly 100 years ago, in 1927, as John Rodgers Airport, HNL was Hawaii’s first major airfield. Over time, it evolved into today’s transpacific hub after World War II. However, the current terminals—many dating back to the early 1960s—reflect the challenges of adapting mid-century inflexible designs for modern travel.
Terminal 1 was built in 1962 to serve interisland flights and underwent renovations in 2018. While updates added some modern features, the core structure is over 60 years old. Terminal 2, also constructed in 1962, remains the largest and busiest at HNL, primarily handling overseas flights. Expansions in the 1970s and again in the 2000s updated portions, but much of the original design remains.
The Ewa Concourse, completed in 2021 at an initial cost of $270 million, reflects a more modern vision for HNL. However, it remains severely underutilized, appearing as an empty and sterile aircraft hangar, leaving its future role uncertain. Some Hawaiian Airlines flights use it and possibly Alaska Airlines will join them eventually in that terminal.
Signage at HNL, in particular, is a recurring issue visitors comment on. Many travelers report confusion due to inconsistent designs, poor visibility, and lack of direction. As one commenter stated, “Worst airport design and signage. They use numbers for everything but never provide a key.”
These mixed terminal ages highlight the airport’s struggle to blend outdated infrastructure with modern expectations. Another traveler remarked, “The airport feels like a museum tour—some parts are nostalgic, others just outdated.”
Limited amenities and dining options.
Honolulu Airport’s dining and shopping options lag significantly behind other airports. Concessions in Terminal 1 close early, leaving red-eye passengers with little more than vending machines or long walks to find more poor options. Adding restaurants with Pacific Rim and local cuisine would elevate the travel experience— but are non-existent.
“The food court is a disappointment,” noted traveler Joshua. “You can’t even sit down to eat food you’ve bought because the seating belongs to another restaurant.”
Closed or seemingly abandoned retail spaces further contribute to a sense of neglect. A stark contrast exists between HNL and other airports that showcase local culture through diverse shopping and dining options. For example, Atlanta and New Orleans airports were praised in the 2024 J.D. Power study for offering beloved local brands. Seattle also does well in that regard.
Lack of basic conveniences.
Honolulu Airport also struggles with the fundamental conveniences that travelers expect. Air conditioning is inconsistent, especially in gate areas, making the open-air concept more of a drawback than a charm for many. Passengers describe the terminal as “hot and humid,” with long waits exacerbating discomfort.
Charging stations for electronic devices are becoming more common, but it isn’t unusual to see travelers still scrambling to find outlets. Similarly, the outdated baggage handling system is prone to breakdowns, resulting in chaotic pileups that frustrate passengers and lead to delays. One Reddit user sarcastically commented, “What did the billions go toward? Certainly not functional baggage carousels.”
A mixed bag for international arrivals.
The international arrivals area at HNL leaves much to be desired. Visitors often encounter dim lighting, stained carpets, and inadequate signage upon entering the U.S. “It’s embarrassing,” said one local real estate analyst. “Hawaii deserves a world-class airport, but this isn’t it.”
In addition, immigration and customs are notoriously understaffed, resulting in lengthy lines. For many international visitors, this chaotic arrival process sets a negative tone for the start of their Hawaii vacation.
Overlooked strengths at HNL include unique gardens.
While HNL has its shortcomings, some aspects stand out and are unique. The Honolulu Airport cultural gardens provide a rare, peaceful respite amid the chaos. These outdoor spaces reflect the natural beauty of Hawaii and offer travelers a chance to relax. As one visitor noted, “The gardens are always a nice, unusual respite.”
Similarly, the long, open-air walkways—though a source of complaints for their lack of air conditioning—are appreciated by many for offering views of the surrounding landscape. “It’s nice to feel the Hawaiian breeze as soon as you step off the plane,” shared another traveler.
New consolidated car rental facility.
The new consolidated car rental facility at Honolulu Airport, completed in 2021, was a long-awaited and much-needed upgrade aimed at streamlining the rental experience for travelers. Located near Terminal 2 via either shuttle bus or on foot, it brings together major car rental companies under one roof, eliminating the need for shuttle rides to various offsite locations.
The facility has more than 4,500 parking stalls, modern counters, and a more efficient vehicle pickup and return system. However, while the structure is an improvement, some travelers have reported challenges with signage and navigating the space, which we can attest to, mirrored broader concerns about HNL’s overall design and functionality.
Improved restrooms: A step in the right direction.
One bright spot amidst Honolulu Airport’s challenges is the recent restroom upgrades. Previously notorious for being outdated and maintained, bathrooms at HNL have undergone much-needed renovations. Travelers, including BOH editors, report cleaner, more modern facilities with better layouts, fixtures, and amenities, offering a marked improvement over the past. These changes are a needed and welcome step toward elevating the overall airport experience, addressing one of the most frequent complaints about the airport’s condition.
The need for accountability and vision.
Honolulu Airport has been the subject of numerous improvement projects, yet many travelers and residents feel the results fall short of the investments made. Complaints about mismanaged funds and slow progress are widespread. As one frustrated commenter said, “The millions spent on renovations went into the pockets of dishonest contractors and politicians.”
To transform HNL into a world-class airport, Hawaii needs a long-term vision prioritizing traveler comfort and functionality. This includes addressing basic issues such as signage, air conditioning, and dining options and completing overdue modernization projects. As one traveler noted, “You cannot have expectations of attracting higher-quality visitors if you cannot provide a quality product.”
Conclusion about HNL.
Honolulu Airport is at a crossroads. As a critical hub for residents and visitors, it must meet modern expectations while retaining its uniquely Hawaiian charm. Addressing the airport’s flaws—many of which are decades overdue—is essential for Hawaii’s tourism industry to thrive. Until then, travelers and residents will continue to describe HNL as “adequate at best” and “embarrassing at worst.”
We’d love to hear your thoughts. What have your experiences at HNL been like? What changes do you think would make the biggest impact?
Chime in below and share your perspective. Mahalo!
Photo Credit © Beat of Hawaii.
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Interesting comment about Immigration and Customs being “understaffed”. First, they haven’t been separate entities since shortly after 9/11. Second, as a retired supervisor for INS and CBP, we were never understaffed except perhaps in the evening when an unexpected flight would make an emergency landing. No, the issue was 10,000 passengers arriving within a 6 hour window from Asia and we had a far greater ratio of foreign passengers to returning US citizens and permanent residents than any other major Port-of-entry in the USA
mufi hannemann: I asked him years ago why the tourism industry surveys customers before they visit Hawaii on the inbound flight? Why not ask our visitors as they Depart our state; about their investment of time and treasure? The airport is simply another example of a vacuum of leadership, no vision or desire to compete on the world stage. Always “good e’ngh” is alive and well at the Honolulu airport. I would be happy to learn about a citizen accountability organization that has some direct control over the paid professionals to hold them accountable. Hold on! That is the same idea that was used at the old CCC for the last 30 years with no action. Maybe not!
Until the corruption stops Hawaii will never have a quality airport. Food is run by a major billion dollar company that has all rights for restaurants and food. Why? Because the can afford to pay to play. Our Governor will not step in. He gets a lot of money for his campaign from them. The airport needs to be privatized and have some company responsible for making it the best airport for its flyers and employees.
If LaGuardia in NYC…long acknowledged to be one of the worst airport hellholes in existence (in a tight footprint space too!)…can simultaneously tear down an old terminal and build a brand new award-winning terminal over less a decade while maintaining existing air passenger traffic load (19th busiest airport in the USA)…what is our excuse?
When I was there five years ago I could not believe how the airport was left back in the eighties. So old and not up to the times or the traffic surely it experiences.
This is what happens when you don’t have an airport commission running things.
Getout of DOT running airports!
Great comment! As a Hawaii resident, I would like to see names and pictures of all the commission members posted at the airport and website. Perhaps someone can help me see pictures of the commissions and contact information. My businesses could not operate like we allows this airport to operate.
HNL certainly has its issues, but nothing compares to the truly third world experience that is KOA. Waiting in the heat and humidity on old hard wood benches is really getting old. Very poor signage leaves people wandering around desperately seeking out-of-the-way restrooms and ground transport. Standing outside in the hot sun on the portable ramps waiting to board a plane; I could go on and on. It is something the state should be truly embarrassed about.
There is no way to fix this disaster short of starting from scratch with a new building and jetways.
It’s not just HNL. All of the airports in the State are in need of improvements and upgrades.
As a disabled traveler I found the car rental facility a nightmare! There is nothing available to assist with getting your luggage from a returned rental car to the terminal! You have to try to push your luggage cart yourself! And on arrival, if you are traveling with a service dog, they have stopped in terminal inspections. On my last trip, an airline employee and someone from HDOA pushed me in a wheelchair while also pushing my luggage a very long distance to the animal inspection station and then had to push us back! I am not looking forward to my next visit to my family living on Oahu!
Some of my big issues for the HNL Airport are:
1) Limited seating at Wide Body gates while passengers wait to board
2) Long walks to gates with limited people movers
3) Some gate areas have no nearby stores
We traveled through Honolulu on our way to the BI in November, and were happy to find a new restaurant in the new terminal. There have been very few dining options in that area. The updated and upgraded restrooms are great and were much needed. To be honest I don’t think it’s that much worse than many mainland airports. PDX just did a major revamp, and it’s still a long hike to the gates, and the dining options aren’t fantastic. The only airport I’ve ever visited that I thought was outstanding was Changi in Singapore. I don’t think we’ll see that at any US airport in the near future.
They also need to rethink how they handle those that need wheelchairs. When I have gone thru HNL (I fly directly to and from Kona if not all possible just to avoid Honolulu) I’ve been abandoned, with the promise they will return to get me to my gate, and then they never return. Consequently, I’ve had to flag someone down for help. I’ve been left at the wrong gate. I always feel like I’m an annoyance who is interrupting their day. Not much Aloha spirit. In Portland, they keep track of wheelchair users on a tablet and check back with you periodically to see if you have any needs. I don’t expect that everywhere, but a bit more efficiency and just plain politeness would be nice and would make everyone feel included in the Hawaii spirit.
Decades of payola to government leaders, architects with no vision, shoddy workmanship, no aloha spirit, poor selection of eateries, high prices. Shall I go on?
Two words: Port Authority
Billions spent on the airport with no good results…. billions spent on the Oahu tram , but no one rides it…. so it’s running this show??? What next, bridges to California and inter island ???
I agree! As I am getting older (Kupuna) walking long distance is becoming imposible, and will require wheel chair assistance. HNL is not handicap freindly.
Compare HNL to SEA….. HNL is and has been asleep at the switch!! Those in charge of the airport infrastructure and any one hired in the past 20 years to design upgrades to HNL, except the Rental Car Center, should be Fired and or Not hired again!!!!
Plan it, design it(New & Renovations)and build it right for the future….. Call Port of Seattle and ask for help if you need to!!
One exception.
The new HAL terminal waiting area extension is great.
Multiple restrooms nearby wherever you sit.
High ceiling with clear PA announcements (no sound bounce).
Bright and open feeling.
Our flight to the mainland was to depart from this extension. But there was aircraft parking issue and we had to walk all the way to the mainland terminal. Hope they get that resolved before my next trip.
If your an international arrival at G gates, you have to cram into a Wiki bus only to be greeted by a way too small immigration room. 1 full ANA A380 arrival would fill that room. They would tell airlines to hold passengers at the gate because immigration was full. That room has no room to expand. That’s where a new terminal would be good.
What happened to the plan to rebuild C and G gates? The curved gates would be replaced by straight terminals connecting the new terminal toward Zulu taxiway and in the east end going straight through the current fuel farm. There’s a picture of this plan still hanging on the wall inside the airport as you exit E gates.
Aloha, yeah the plans will probably be like the rails plans…plan as you go and pay as you go… which will be way behind and over budgeted…
HNL really needs to have and install moving walkways so passengers as well as employees that work at HNL have an easier ways to get around the airport to and from gates and baggage claims, better restaurants would also be nice, have a variety of options to choose from. Getting around HNL airport is a joke…
The gardens are beautiful, but they can’t distract from the outdated seating, confusing signage, rundown gates, and lack of options. It’s like the airport management doesn’t know what it is doing.
Nobody here in a position of power has a clue what they’re doing. That’s why things are constantly in a state of disrepair. The constant nepotism will do that…
I didn’t mind HNL as much as others do, but the interisland terminal is another story. It feels like a forgotten project from many decades ago.
Concur that the new rental car facility is fantastic compared to what it was before! If only the rest of the airport could match that level of thoughtfulness and improvement. Why doesn’t it ever change. And what’s with that crazy new Hawaiian terminal that is always empty. I’m afraid to ask who is paying for that.
Where did the billions go exactly? Customs feels like a leftover set piece from a 1970s airport disaster movie. It’s frustrating as a frequent flier to use the airport and yet it is the major flight choice for the whole state. It’s maddening.
Like everything in Hawaii, they spend millions on “studies” on a project, then do nothing. Then more studies, then do nothing. Rinse repeat, which is why everything is over budget and never on schedule.
I love the gardens. They remind me of why I’m here, even if the rest of the airport feels so very dated.
I’ve been through Honolulu Airport dozens of times, and it feels like nothing much has changed in decades. They need a real modernization, not just patches. What happened to the last huge plan? It is still in the dark ages.
HNL’s open-air concept is charming in theory, but now the lack of air conditioning in some areas makes it simply unbearable before and after long flights.
We travel through HNL on the way to/from our island destination to/from the mainland so have missed (been saved from?) the TSA and baggage experiences. Yes, parts of HNL are outdated but have you been through San Diego Int’l lately?
Same old same old. Hawaiian leaders make long winded statements of how they want premium tourists that spend a lot of money like the Japanese used to do but they can’t keep up with the times. They provide worst in class amenities yet expect to attract rich hotshots. Just target who your real market is not the luxury end which this place certainly is not
I passed through this airport for the second time just about a year ago (1/2024). I found the airport to be just an airport, nothing spectacular (aside from the fixtures in the bathroom by the check-in kiosks at the entrance to the airport). Once inside I agree that the choices for dining and seating were lackluster and beyond expensive. ~$25 for a fast food burger is outrageous. I understand the airport convenience and how things are higher priced on the island as a whole, but this is just robbery to me. Not a way to welcome or say come back again to travelers. I was fond of the open air breezeway that we walked through to get to our gate, I can see it being a source of complaints to some but for me it was a nice reminder of the beauty we saw during our travels and a welcomed send off of fresh Hawaiian air. The person plaques denoting male and female bathrooms were something I thought were cute the first time I went through the airport and something that I pointed out to my wife.
My opinion exactly.
Whenever I return home to Hawaii from a trip I think I’ve returned to Africa.
Food options are lacking or non-existent and incredibly overpriced.
Whenever I leave the lack of A/C just compounds the stress level and the discomfort of going through the single TSA line. Upon return from a cooler climate the lack of A/C further compounds the opinion the I’m returning from a Africa.
Finally the signage. They prioritize pointing out terminal 1-2-3. Then as an after thought they list departures and arrivals below them in smaller lettering. It should be the other way around. Signage was changed once only to do the same thing.
I can’t say the airport designers and planners know or care about what they are doing. Upon arrival you are given a baggage claim area number. To confuse people they place number on all of the the column. Those numbers have nothing to do with the baggage claim area.
Mahalo for your great content!
30 years ago, my 75 year old mom and I had to walk what felt like miles from our inter island gate to the gate where our flight home was. I’ve returned 11 times since. I was so happy there was a tram service between mainland and inter island gates. I was disappointed last month that the tram was out of service. Going home is bad enough, but having to haul a** to our gate made it worse. Also there’s very little food available to buy. We love to fly HA from JFK, but the service has slipped since our last trip in 2019. Hope the merger restores the former HA excellent service. Aloha and Happy New Year!
As a 78 yr old native Hawaiian, I have seen a lot of changes. Sadly, local hui’s that control construction on Public Works projects have proven are a major problem. I did not see mention of the new runway debacle.
These are the same feckless clowns that are to rebuild Lahaina. It has not gone well so far.
I was talking to an architect on our flight back from HNL who told me
that it was the worst airport design that he had ever seen.
HNL Airport is a joke! I’m not sure if Dan Inouye is glad to have his name on this airport.
I’m so glad that there are so many other world class airports out there to visit! The people of Hawaii deserve better!
I distain the HNL airport. The signage is absolutely pathetic, and the capability for folks with mobility challenges getting to their airline terminal is basically cruel! I refuse to return to Hawaii unless it’s a non stop flight to Kauai. Thank you BOH for your great reporting. Aloha.
You missed the state of the HNL lounges. Making sure you get from Kauai to HNL with time to make your Red Eye connection often results in considerable downtime at HNL. A couple of hours in the Delta Lounge is not a great experience! Not infrequently, we spend a day and a night in Honolulu rather than hours at HNL. We are not vacation travelers but second homeowners; thus, we have time to spare.
Having been thru HNL several times, I have never noticed that much about the airport. I didn’t go to Hawaii to see the airport. All airports are just a necessary evil.
A few restaurants that were open later would be nice. Basic HNL is not A thoroughfare, it is a destination. As long as security is quick and there are no long lines. I am good.
Make a dine inn restaurant. With waiters and busboys. People would love it.
Back in the old daze at the old airport, there was a classy restaurant upstairs called The Sky Room. Wonderful!