The only runway at Kahului Airport that handles mainland jets has been resurfaced five times over 80 years, and the pavement foundation beneath it is breaking down below the surface. The state has known this for a decade. It still has no approved plan, no finalized budget, and no construction date to rebuild it. Kahului serves roughly 7 million passengers a year and around 200 daily arrivals and departures during peak periods.
Today the state announced it is still evaluating “conceptual study alternatives” for rebuilding it. That means there is no selected plan, no construction schedule, and no budget number currently attached to the project. The runway was first flagged for full reconstruction nearly a decade ago.
The runway everything on Maui depends on.
Kahului has two runways, but only one that supports mainland jet service. Runway 2-20 is 6,998 feet long and 150 feet wide. It carries essentially all commercial jet traffic. Runway 5-23 is shorter at 4,980 feet. It is used for commuter aircraft and general aviation. It does not handle routine mainland jet operations and it is not an equivalent substitute for the main runway. Roughly one out of every four airline passengers in the state passes through OGG.
Eighty years and five resurfacing jobs.
The runway has been resurfaced five times since 1942. Each project milled off the top layer and laid down new asphalt. Each time, it extended the life of the runway’s surface.
What those projects did not do was rebuild the sub-structure. Planning documents have acknowledged ongoing issues below the surface, including slippage and cracking tied to deterioration in the foundation more than 18 inches deep. Asphalt can be replaced. The base underneath eventually cannot be ignored.
From April through June 2024, the state completed overnight milling and repaving to avoid any daytime flight disruptions. That work was described as a short-term measure expected to buy 7 to 10 years while a full reconstruction is planned.
A critical infrastructure project that never quite starts.
The 2016 Kahului Airport Master Plan identified full reconstruction of Runway 2-20 as necessary. The plan proposed converting an existing taxiway east of the main runway into a temporary parallel runway so commercial flights could continue during construction.
In 2019, the Hawaii Department of Transportation held a public meeting and began its environmental assessment. Cost estimates at the time were around $250 million. The actual reconstruction job was projected to take about nine months, with the broader project potentially lasting up to several years including preparation and facility shifts.
Now, years later, the state is still presenting alternatives and describing environmental review and permitting as future steps. The master plan update has not been initiated. There is no timeline for construction to begin.
The temporary Maui runway questions.
The proposed solution during reconstruction is to convert an existing taxiway into a temporary runway. That sounds easy until you look at the traffic moves across the primary runway every day.
Earlier reporting indicated that the temporary runway could not operate simultaneously with the main runway. The plan also involves temporarily closing part of old Haleakala Highway and relocating certain general aviation facilities from the Haleakala side to the Kanaha side.
All of this will change how the airport functions during construction and raise obvious questions about capacity. If airlines have to reduce loads, swap aircraft types, or cut frequencies, the impact may show up in seat availability and pricing.
An economy tied to a single strip of pavement.
Maui’s economy is still stabilizing after the 2023 wildfires. Tourism supports roughly 70 to 80% of the island’s economy, directly or indirectly.
At the same time, the state is investing elsewhere at the airport. A $46 million TSA checkpoint expansion began in May 2025, reinforcing the long-term role of Kahului as Maui’s primary gateway. The front end of the airport is expanding and improving while the only jet-capable runway awaits definitive reconstruction planning.
The question is not whether Runway 2-20 will eventually need to have a full rebuild completed. It clearly does. The question is how long the state waits before moving from studies and meetings to actual construction, and what Maui looks like when something finally happens.
If you are flying to Maui in the next five to ten years, does this timeline concern you, or do you assume the state will sort it out eventually, before the runway’s borrowed time runs out?
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I keep harping on this, but this is one state that truly needs an airport authority. Some body whose sole responsibility is the maintenance and operation of these important facilities that are necessary for the economic health of the state. The state government, as currently set up, does not seem capable of doing the job.
It’s obviously concerning, and it also might not be dealt with until there’s a serious accident that could shut down flights for days or even weeks, and cause absolute fury amongst tourists, airlines, and resorts.
Sounds like business as usual in the state that has consistently mismanaged their budgets and paid off their crony supporters while catering to unions. They keep waiting for their terms to expire and leave this problem to the next government. Poorly run, incredibly inept group over there.
Lets find another cousin to do another study. All of Hawaii has learned that there is money in studies. Not completed projects that always come in many times higher than bid. Crazy.
Get in line. Kona has it’s issues and patches too and we only have one runway.
Geez – they should have jumped on that during Covid.
They should talk to the people in Alaska that did road repairs in record time a couple of years ago.
Thanks but scary. This proposal started 10 years ago. Wow no wonder so many other restroom, abandoned cars, and maintenance issues exist. When will it really be unsafe to land? Overdue or is your upcoming flight next?