Kona International Airport

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Kona International Airport at Keahole
IATA: KOA - ICAO: PHKO
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Hawaii Department of Transportation
Serves Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Elevation AMSL 47 ft (14.3 m)
Coordinates 19°44′20″N, 156°02′44″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 11,000 3,353 Asphalt

Kona International Airport at Keahole (IATA: KOAICAO: PHKO) is an airport on the Island of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i. 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).

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[edit] Facilities

This 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. Nevertheless, Kona International sees daliy 767, 777 and even 747 aircraft. The airport terminal is a rambling, open-air set of structures long appreciated by arriving passengers for the casual, "holiday" atmosphere it engenders. 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 profitablity 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. American Airlines operates the smaller 767 on its KOA-ORD service and thus is unaffected.

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 (USGS, 1997).

[edit] Airlines and destinations

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Airports of Hawaii
Image:hawaiitransportationlogo.jpg
Hawaii: Hilo International Airport | Kona International Airport | Upolu Airport | Waimea-Kohala Airport
Oahu: Honolulu International Airport | Dillingham Airfield | Kalaeloa Airport
Kauai: Lihu'e Airport | Port Allen Airport | Princeville Airport
Maui: Hana Airport | Kahului Airport | Kapalua Airport
Smaller islands: Kalaupapa Airport | Lanai Airport | Molokai Airport
Military: Hickam Air Force Base | Wheeler Army Airfield
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