Kona International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Kona International Airport at Keahole
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =

---

image-width =
caption =
IATA = KOA
ICAO = PHKO
type = Public
owner =
operator = Hawaii Department of Transportation
city-served =
location = Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
elevation-f = 47
elevation-m = 14.3
coordinates = Coord|19|44|20|N|156|02|44|W|type:airport_region:US
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 17/35
r1-length-f = 11,000
r1-length-m = 3,353
r1-surface = Asphalt
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
stat2-data =
footnotes =

Kona International Airport at Keahole Airport codes|KOA|PHKO is an airport on the Island of Hawai‘i, in Hawai‘i County, Hawai‘i, United States. The airport serves both the town of Kailua-Kona and the major resorts of the North Kona and South Kohala districts (leeward or kona Hawai‘i).

Facilities

The state government of Hawai‘i facility operates an 11,000-foot (3350-m) runway and a terminal complex of single story buildings along the eastern edge of the airfield for arriving and departing passengers, air cargo and mail, airport support, and general aviation operations.

Kona International, or "Kailua-Kona" as it is more often called by locals and interisland passengers, is the only remaining major airport in the Hawaiian Islands where a mobile ramp is used to plane and deplane passengers. Kona International sees daily 757, 767, 777, and 747 aircraft. The airport terminal is a rambling, open-air set of structures. Long after other airports in Hawai‘i converted their terminals to multi-story buildings with automated jetway systems, Hawaiian Airlines could still utilize their DC-9 fleet's tailcone exits at Kailua-Kona.

One unique feature to Kona's airport is United Flight 3, which operates ORD-OGG-KOA-ORD on a daily basis aboard a Boeing 777. While the Kona stop certainly adds to the profitability of this long-haul flight, it is also absolutely essential because Kahului Airport's runway is too short to allow a fully-loaded 777 to depart for a destination as far away as Chicago.

Much of the airport runway is built on a relatively recent lava flow: the 1801 "Huehue" flow from Hualālai. This flow extended the shoreline out an estimated 1 mile, adding some four 4 km² of land to the Island ( [http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1997/97_07_25.html USGS, 1997] ).

Airlines and destinations

* Air Canada (Vancouver) [seasonal]
* Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma) [begins November 17]
* American Airlines (Los Angeles)
* Delta Air Lines (Los Angeles)
* Hawaiian Airlines (Hilo [arrivals only] , Honolulu, Kahului)
* Island Air (Honolulu, Kahului)
* Japan Airlines
** JALways (Tokyo-Narita)
* Kona Air Shuttle operated by Primaris Airlines (Oakland)
* go! operated by Mesa Airlines (Honolulu)
**go! Express operated by Mokulele Airlines (Kapalua, Molokaokinai, Lanaokinai, Kahului)
* Northwest Airlines (Kahului, Seattle/Tacoma)
* Pacific Wings (Kahului)
* United Airlines (Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Kahului, Los Angeles, San Francisco)
* US Airways (Phoenix)
* WestJet (Vancouver) [seasonal]

References

*FAA-airport|ID=KOA|use=PU|own=PU|site=52250.2*A

External links

* [http://www.hawaii.gov/dot/airports/hawaii/koa/ Hawaii DOT page for Kona International Airport at Keahole]
**WAD|PHKO