Did you know that Hawaii Airports include 14 active civil aviation facilities, 5 of which handle the bulk of the state’s inter-island and trans-Pacific traffic? When you score one of our Hawaii Deals, here’s a little more about your arrival airports and what’s new.
Trivia: Which is the oldest of Hawaii’s airports, and why is Maui’s airport code OGG? Read on to find out more.
Honolulu International. The first and most famous of our commercial Hawaii airports is HNL and was originally called John Rodgers Airport. The open air facility where you’ll enjoy the fragrance of tropical flowers wafting in trade winds, originally opened in 1927 and was named in honor of the aviator and sailor. In 1925, Rodgers made the first trans-Pacific flight from California. When his plane ran out of fuel hundreds of miles from Hawaii, he crafted sails from the wings in order to complete the journey. Being the major airport of Hawaii, it seems more than 12 million annual visitors.
What’s new at Honolulu Airport.
- An on airport luggage storage facility has opened. For $12-15 per day you can store a bag and head off to town. This is a great (and much asked for solution) for layovers in Honolulu.
- A new interim car rental facility is open which houses Advantage, Avis, Budget, Hertz, and National. Next comes the permanent consolidated facility which is scheduled to open in four years.
- The new Mauka concourse will provided added capacity during peak hours and the ability to handle larger planes such as the A-350. This first such expansion in two decades is schedule to be completed in 2017. It is to be an l-shaped building connected to the inter-island terminal with additional capable of 6 widebody or 11 narrowbody planes.
Kahului Airport (Maui). Designated OGG in honor of aviation legend, and Kauai native, Bertram J. Hogg (which is pronounced Hoag). The second busiest of Hawaii’s airports serves one of the routes with the greatest air traffic in the country, between Honolulu and Maui.
What’s new at Kahului Airport. A new airport access road is just being completed. It will help eliminate congestion by providing a straight shot to and from the airport which will bypass busy Dairy Road.
Hilo Airport.Where did the code ITO come from? We’re not really sure. The obvious code for the Big Island airport would have been HIL, which was already taken in Ethiopia. It may have been named after an early manager at the airport for Hawaiian Air, whose name was of course, Ito.
Kona Airport. Built on recent lava flow, KOA is the only major island airport that doesn’t use a Jetway. When the airplane doors open you descend the stairs under a warm, Hawaii sky. KOA opened in 1970 although construction continued for another twenty years. Since then the population on the West-side of Big Island has increased 50 percent.
What’s new at Kona Airport. Parking lot improvements were recently completed.
JHM. This airport code isn’t widely known, but represents Maui’s airport near Kapalua Resort. It replaced the prior Kaanapali Airport in 1987. The code is in honor of John H. Magoon, who was Hawaiian Airlines’ president when the company developed the airport.
Lihue Airport (Kauai). Kauai airport in Lihue was not its first. That honor goes to Burns Field near Hanapepe at Salt Pond Beach Park. Commercial flights by Hawaiian Airlines started there in 1929. A year later, runways at Burns Field were extended with use of prison labor which played a part in construction at other Hawaii airports as well.
What’s new at Lihue Aiport. Future upgrades include modernizing the ticket lobby, construction of a consolidated car rental facility, and expanding parking by 450 stalls.
Do you have anything you’d like to ask or interesting facts to share about Hawaii’s rich history in civil aviation?
Also see: Honolulu Airport Reef Runway Celebrates 35 Years
Photo is Lihue Airport and taken by Beat of Hawaii.
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Hi,
So you mentioned the HNL interim car rental facility. I am currently booked with Enterprise. How difficult is it to get to now? Should I reconsider booking with one of the five companies you listed?
Thanks!
Thanks for the post. Lots of new random info haha. I stumbled across this as I’m researching for a trip to Hawaii with the family. Last time I went Honolulu’s airport was a mess. Hoping it’s a bit better. Might try flying into OGG but any suggestions if I’m coming in from Vancouver or Seattle?
Thanks,
Mark
Hi Mark.
Not sure exactly what info we can help with in regards to flying from Vancouver or Seattle. Both have pretty good fares to Maui generally and also see sales.
Aloha.
Just wish it wasn’t such a longggg distance from check-in to the gates at HNL, and from the gates to baggage claim, especially for Hawaiian Airlines. The Wiki Wiki bus is anything but. Best airport for me is Molokai…what’s the code for Kaunakakai?
A less obvious, but vital improvement ar KOA (Keahole-Kona) airport was completed early last year. Incandescent bulbs were replaced with low-energy LEDs throughout the terminal and ramp areas. Also main facility air conditioners were upgraded, and all old-style electrical transformers were replaced with new solid-state equipment. Then the whole thing was connected to a energy conservation computer management system.
The employee parking lot was provided with shade structures which hold several acres of solar photovoltaic cells.
All these improvements are the first steps to making sunny KOA energy neutral.
There’ more on the Kona horizon that might take up a whole Beat of Hawaii article.
Mahalo George!
Aloha.
What about the expansion at HNL? Any news? The last time I was there my inbound flight waited 40 minutes for a gate around noon. More gates are needed!
Hi Tony.
Thanks for that question. We updated the post to include the upcoming new concourse and gates at HNL. We have not heard if this work is running on schedule or not.
Aloha.
We really enjoy your daily emails about what’s going on in Hawaii. Do you know how the rebuilding project on the Coco Palms resort on Kauai is progressing?
Hi Steve,
Demolition is in process. We’ll stop by and do an update soon. Mahalo for asking.
Aloha.
I love flying into Kona and deplaning directly into the fresh Hawaiian air!
Lori,
I couldn’t agree more!! I love getting to the front of the plane and taking a deep breath of island air standing at the top of the stairs. There isn’t a better way to start a magical vacation.