If the tourism industry recovery progresses as it’s hoped, there will be more people getting a first impression of Hawaii the instant they step off the plane.
Statewide, the airports have been less than impressive on multiple fronts, and despite recent upgrades made at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, there is still a long way to go.
The good news is that a $250 million infusion of federal funds is in hand, to be spent over the next five years largely for needed improvements to runways and other basic infrastructure. At the end of August, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration announced Hawaii’s allocation under the Airport Infrastructure Grant program.
The funds will pay for runway projects at Lihue and Kona airports and taxiway upgrades. There are competitive grants available as well under the program, part of Congress’ bipartisan infrastructure bill.
While all of these projects are welcome investments, the challenge ahead is to implement some other key fixes as well. A cosmetic facelift that also has the effect of improving facility functions is in order: Better signage — including the poorly-lit signs on the exit ramps to Honolulu’s airport — and bathrooms that work properly would erase a few common complaints of travelers.
Similar deficits affect airports on neighbor islands as well. In the most dramatic example, Maui’s Kahului airport is in line for an efficiency overhaul, following a near-meltdown with long lines at the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. Officials recently announced changes such as the opening of new security checkpoint lanes and installation of better screening technology.
This is progress, but it shouldn’t have taken a crisis to bring about common-sense adjustments. Hawaii welcomes far greater numbers of visitors at its neighbor island airports than it did decades ago when the facilities were built, and has done so long before the pandemic caused this pent-up traveler demand.
The state’s airport system deserves a higher priority from the state than it has received over the years. According to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 327,764 passengers came through Honolulu’s principal airport in 2019, before the pandemic upended travel, a disruption that is still being felt. That places it 38th in a list of 386 facilities, busy enough to merit prompt attention long before now.
And now, the numbers show clearly that airport traffic has rebounded. Airports Council International, the trade association representing commercial service airports in the United States and Canada, on Sept. 8 released its 2021 North American Airport Traffic Summary. Honolulu’s airport, not surprisingly, saw a 120.7% rise in domestic visitor arrivals, between the 2020 doldrums and 2021.
When tourism restarted, the travel-hungry U.S. mainlanders flocked back to Hawaii for pandemic respite, but persistent travel restrictions kept international visitors away.
As Labor Day marked the end of the summer vacation rush, the government of Japan, crucial to Hawaii’s international tourism market, announced a significant easing in border controls for COVID-19. High fuel costs are now the sticking point — the international visitor counts deplaning in Honolulu are still down about 73%, according to the traffic summary — but numbers are headed up.
Clearly, the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions and the sudden rise in arrivals has put a strain on airports.
There are master plans for each facility in Hawaii, but it would be smart for the next governor to put airport improvements near the top of his job list. The new head of the state Department of Transportation should take a hard look at these plans and apply lessons learned.
There is no shortage of feedback — from visitors, industry sources and various airport ratings services — to guide this process. Just to name one: Skytrax, a London-based international air-transport ratings organization, gives Honolulu’s airport three stars out of five, signifying “fair or average” standards.
The review credits Daniel K. Inouye International with an appealing curbside and terminal environment, complimenting its open-air ambiance. That feel, including the signature Asian garden within the main terminal, is indeed charming.
The bad news: “The airport can be very crowded and international arrivals process is chaotic. Terminal finishes are dated, with limited family facilities. Walking distances can be long, and the transfer process lacks efficiency.”
Those criticisms sound right, too. Those walking distances are not made more comfortable, either, by the airport’s embarrassingly vintage “Wiki Wiki” buses. Surely those could be replaced with something from this century? An electric tram, perhaps? And at all airports, good signage could make arrivals and departures less frustrating, at least.
If Hawaii wants to remain in the forefront of travel destinations — and it does — the least the state should do would be to spruce up the visitor industry’s front door.
