Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Kona International Airport at Keahole reopened this morning at first light.
It was shut down Monday afternoon as cracks were visible on the runway.
The move ended up leading to the cancellation of a number of flights and diverting aircraft headed to Kona. It is affecting thousands of passengers.
The airport would remain closed through the night. It was not possible to operate around a damaged section of runway. The state Department of Transportation on Monday said this.
However, the department is also working with contractors to mill and resurface a 10-by-10-foot area, and the work may be completed before sunrise.
Passengers with flights scheduled to arrive in or depart from Kona today have to check with their airline before heading to the airport, the department said.
On Monday, Hawaiian Airlines cancelled five interisland flights to Kona and a flight from Los Angeles, affecting some 700 people, according to the airline.
A number of other airlines were forced to cancel or divert their aircraft because of the Kona closure.
Those include a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas, an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles and a United Airlines flight from Denver.
A flight tracking website indicated that Alaska Airlines had six cancellations, including flights from Seattle and Portland, Ore.
More than a dozen interisland flights were cancelled, and some aircraft waited on the runway in Honolulu waiting for the airport to reopen.
According to an earlier statement from the Department of Transportation, crews were checking the entire length of the runway for cracks.
A project to reconstruct the entire 11,000-foot runway had been scheduled for this year.
But cracks developed and the degradation of the runway pavement accelerated due to recent rain, the statement said.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority said it is closely monitoring the runway closure and the repair efforts.
KOA is an important gateway for the Island of Hawaii. It sees thousands of passengers arrive and depart daily on interisland, domestic, and international flights, the HTA said in a statement.
HTA Chair Mufi Hannemann said, “This thing could have been out of control, but I’m glad the DOT stepped up to the plate big time and they’re on it.”
Hannemann said the HTA is now looking at how it can support passengers in Kona who cannot get out and passengers headed to Kona diverted to Honolulu.
HTA has already authorized funding to address any passenger comfort needs at the Kona airport, Hannemann said.
Their partners at the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai‘i on each island are standing by to assist further if needed.
Earlier Monday, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said he contacted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to see whether he could help with getting the runway open.
He is working with the FAA to help to solve this problem as quickly as possible, Schatz said in a statement.
Schatz is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.
Saturday, April 27, 2024
