Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (PHKO) is the principal gateway to the leeward side of Hawaii Island, sited on a relatively young lava flow at Keahole Point northwest of Kailua-Kona. Its single very long runway, 17/35, makes it capable of handling everything from general aviation traffic to wide-body international jets, and it carries the name of astronaut Ellison Onizuka in tribute to the Big Island's most famous son.
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole is the primary airport serving the Island of Hawaii's leeward, western side, handling international, interisland, commuter and general aviation traffic. It takes its full name from astronaut Ellison Onizuka, who was born and raised in Kona and died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster; the airport was renamed in his honour in 2017. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot, the field is notable for sitting atop a comparatively recent lava flow at Keahole Point, giving the approach and surrounding terrain a distinctly volcanic character, and for possessing one of the longest runways in the Hawaiian Islands.
The airport lies at Keahole Point in Kalaoa, on the western coast of Hawaii Island, roughly seven miles northwest of the Kailua-Kona town site. It sits at an elevation of 39 feet, at coordinates 19.7388, -156.046. The field is served by Honolulu Center for area control and has its own tower frequency, placing it within controlled airspace during operating hours.
The airport has a single physical runway, 17/35, some 10,994 feet long with a hard, lit surface, making it one of the longest runways in the Hawaiian island chain. An ILS is available for runway 17.
ATIS is broadcast on 127.4 MHz. Clearance delivery is on 121.9 MHz, with Honolulu Center available on 126 MHz. The tower, which also serves as the CTAF, operates on 120.3 MHz, and a remote communications outlet (RCO) is available on 123.6 MHz.
The airport is built largely on the 1801 Huʻehuʻe lava flow from Hualalai, which extended the shoreline outward and created Keahole Point; this dark, relatively barren lava field is a distinctive visual marker for pilots approaching from over the water on the island's leeward coast.
The airport opened on July 1, 1970, with a single 6,500-foot runway, replacing the old Kailua-Kona airstrip, which was subsequently converted into the Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area. Construction crews from Bechtel Corporation used three million pounds of dynamite to level the lava-tube-riddled flow on which the field was built, completing the work within thirteen months. The airport has been renamed several times: it opened as Keahole Airport, became Keahole-Kona International Airport in 1993, was renamed Kona International Airport at Keahole in 1997, and finally became Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole on January 1, 2017, honouring the Kona-born astronaut who died in the 1986 Challenger disaster. A small museum, the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center, opened at the airport in 1991, displaying items including a sample of lunar soil and a spacesuit from Apollo 13. In 1994 the runway was extended to 11,000 feet, the second-longest in the Hawaiian Islands after Honolulu, enabling nonstop wide-body flights to destinations such as Tokyo. The opening and subsequent expansion of the airport helped shift the centre of gravity of Hawaii Island tourism from Hilo on the windward side to the resorts of North Kona and South Kohala on the leeward coast.
The airport continues to handle a full mix of domestic overseas, international, interisland, commuter/air taxi and general aviation activity, occupying some 4,200 acres of land about seven miles northwest of Kailua-Kona. It remains part of the State of Hawaii Airport System, owned and operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation, Airports Division, which is currently conducting a Master Plan Update covering the airport's longer-term development.