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Just got back from my fifth trip to Hawaii. As always, I loved being there. But there was one problem: the airports are such a pain!
Kona airport (KOA) is the worst. First of all, there's the open-air design, made to look like a little airfield serving a lazy tropical island. Well, that's great, except that the volume of passengers far exceeds the design capacity. So everyone is all crammed in to every possible space, especially the few spots that offer shade. And even though Kona is known for being a hot place, even the few indoor options are not air conditioned. Not to mention, the jet engines a few feet away on the other side of the fence are loud!
Yes, I understand that Hawaii is a tropical, warm-weather location. But don't the airport designers understand that many of their customers come from places where they aren't used to the heat? Wouldn't it be nice to give folks like me a chance to cool off instead of baking and sweating in the unaccustomed heat?
Just as annoying is the process that you have to go through even before you get to meet Officer Unfriendly of the TSA. To check in for your flight, first you have to wait in line (in a non-air conditioned building, of course) to get your boarding pass from a kiosk. Then you have to wait in another line to get your destination tags for your luggage. Then you get to shlep your bags (and did I mention the lack of air conditioning?) over to the agricultural inspection station. And then, after they clear you through, you get to haul your bags again, over to the security inspection, where at long last you can relinquish them. Are there any signs explaining any of this? Not that I could see. You just have to know, or else get lucky enough to grab the attention of the lone agent working the crowd.
Someone, please tell me, why can't all of this be accomplished in one fell swoop? One line to a single check-in station to get boarding passes and destination tags, and then let the security workers put your luggage through the agricultural inspection and then from there directly to the security scanner? You know, like pretty much every other airport in the entire country? (Not counting the agricultural inspection.) Who designed this process -- the Soviet Union Airport Design Directorate?
You might think that Honolulu airport (HNL), being the state's main international gateway, would be better. And it is, but not by much. The terminal building sprawls all over the place, and I could find almost no signs directing me from one terminal to another. Seriously, I deplaned from a Hawaiian Airlines flight from the Mainland and tried to connect to a Hawaiian Airlines inter-island flight, yet I could find no signs whatsoever telling me how to get to the Inter-Island Terminal. (And I had done it on several previous trips! What about people for whom this was their first visit?) Luckily, I was finally able to find someone to ask.
And when it came time to go home, I had to walk through half the airport before I found the Alaska Airlines check-in counter. (No signs anywhere telling me where it was, of course.) And then I had to go through the Stations of the Check-In to get my boarding pass and luggage tags and all that. When I finally did all that, and got through security, I had to find Gate 10. And yes, there were signs: turn left for Gates 1-15 (approximately, I don't remember the exact range) and turn right for Gates 8-25 (or whatever). In other words, Gate 10 was in the range for both directions; it could be either left or right. Which way to go? Flip a coin? In the end, that's what I did (figuratively), and yes, I did finally find Gate 10. Along the way I saw a beautiful little Japanese garden from my perch on one of the overhead outdoor walkways. How to get to that garden? No clue.
I haven't used Kahului (OGG) and Lihue (LIH) since 2004, so maybe they aren't so bad. (Though my memory of OGG was that it wasn't anything to write home about. And I recall that LIH's check-in was in the great, un-air conditioned outdoors as well.) And I haven't used Hilo (ITO) since 2008, but my memory is that it wasn't too bad. So at least one airport in the state isn't a royal pain in the rear end to use.
So what's the deal? Why are Hawaii's airports so poorly laid out, so poorly signed, and stuck with such confusing, inconvenient operating procedures?
I always go to Maui and land at Kahului. I think it's a lovely little airport, easy to navigate both coming and going. And frankly, I'm always so happy to be there I don't even notice any negatives. I'm just focused on getting the rental car and heading to the oceanfront condo we always go to. Pure heaven!
The problem with the airports in Hawaii is they were constructed prior to the jet age (like Honolulu) and/or a boom in tourism (for instance, Kona).
Some airports are getting a significant makeover - others less so. For instance, HNL will getting a large/modern brand new terminal - and in addition, the commuter terminal (where Island Air is) will get torn down and relocated to a new facility.
The entire program is about $2.7 Billion - if you'd like to read up on all the things happening - read here:
Location: not sure, but there's a hell of a lot of water around here!
2,682 posts, read 7,576,023 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bus man
So what's the deal? Why are Hawaii's airports so poorly laid out, so poorly signed, and stuck with such confusing, inconvenient operating procedures?
Having spent a significant amount of time at all of Hawaii's airports over the years, I've never had a problem with any of them, although I still prefer the Old Kahului Airport with the open roof and the banyan tree replete with wild birds growing in the center. Perhaps the problem isn't the layout of the airports, and more of a problem with comprehension on your part.
Since it's all so annoying to you, is it safe to say there won't be a sixth trip? You're griping about the least annoying thing in all the Islands... keep going...we're listening.
Koale
Why generalize all Hawaiian airports because Kona's is not adequate? The others are all fine. Have you been to any others?
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