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Hawaii Family Dental Centers: Kona Center, Kailua-Kona hawaiifamilydental.com | Kailua-Kona, HI Dental Labs | Dental Lab Technician in Kailua-Kona, HI dental411network.com |
Kona International Airport at Keāhole (IATA: KOA, ICAO: PHKO) is an airport on the Island of Hawaiʻi, in Kalaoa CDP, Hawaiʻi County, Hawaiʻi, United States.[2] The airport serves leeward, or Western Hawaiʻi island, including the town of Kailua-Kona and the major resorts of the North Kona and South Kohala districts.
[edit] Facilities The state government of Hawaiʻi facility operates an 11,000 ft (3,353 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.[1] Kona International 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 717, 737, 757, 767, and 777 aircraft, as well as smaller inter-island aircraft, and general private aviation. The airport terminal is a rambling, open-air set of structures. Long after other airports in Hawaiʻi 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. An environmental impact statement was prepared in 2005 to add a second runway. The United States Air Force investigated building a second 3,950 ft (1,200 m) runway in 2009. This would be used for practicing landing C-17 military cargo planes on a short runway.[3] Although the 11,000 ft (3,353 m) runway allows flights to Japan and Chicago, it is the only major airport in Hawaii with only one. [edit] Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space CenterA small museum, the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center,[4] is located between the passenger terminals at the airport. It is named in honor of Kona-born Ellison Onizuka who died in 1986 on the Space Shuttle Challenger. The displays include a sample of lunar soil, a space suit from Apollo 13, and personal items from Ellison Onizuka. An admission fee is charged.[5] [edit] HistoryMuch of the airport runway is built on a relatively recent lava flow: the 1801 Huʻehuʻe flow from Hualālai. This flow extended the shoreline out an estimated 1 mi (1.6 km), adding some 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi) of land to the island[6] and creating Keāhole Point. The airport was moved to this location and dedicated on July 1, 1970, when the previous smaller airstrip was converted into the Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area. Construction crews from Bechtel Corportation had used three million pounds of dynamite to flatten the lava flow (which was riddled with Lava tubes) within 13-months. In its first full year, 515,378 passengers passed through the new open-air tropical-style terminals. The aquaculture ponds and solar energy experiments at the nearby Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) can be seen during landing and take-off. It was originally known as Ke-āhole Airport, since the ʻāhole fish (Kuhlia sandvicensis) was found nearby.[7] The main runway was extended in 1993 to make it the largest in the Hawaiian Islands outside of Honolulu, when it was renamed Keāhole-Kona International Airport.[8] In 1997 it officially became known as the Kona International Airport at Keāhole. [edit] Airlines and destinations
[edit] Accidents and incidents
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[edit] External links
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