Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Lihue Airport (PHLI) is the principal gateway to the island of Kauai, sitting on the island's southeast coast a short distance from the town centre. It offers a control tower, an ILS approach and two crossing runways, making it a straightforward and scenic destination for simulator pilots flying into the Hawaiian islands.
Lihue Airport is the main airport serving the island of Kauai, Hawaii, and is owned and operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation. It handles interisland, domestic and limited international traffic, but for the VFR or IFR sim pilot it is chiefly notable for its tower-controlled operation, dual-runway layout, and dramatic approach over Kauai's green coastline and surrounding ocean.
The airport lies on the southeast coast of Kauai, close to the town of Lihue, within Hawaii Department of Transportation-controlled airfield property. It has an operating air traffic control tower and is worked by Honolulu Center for the surrounding airspace, placing it within the wider Honolulu Flight Information Region. Pilots should expect controlled airspace around the field given the active tower and approach control environment.
Lihue has two paved, lit runways crossing each other. Runway 03/21 is 6,521 ft (03) and 6,316 ft (21), hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 17/35 is 6,511 ft in both directions, hard-surfaced and lit, with an instrument landing system serving runway 35. Field elevation is 102 ft.
Lihue Tower operates on 118.9 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF. Ground control is on 121.9 MHz, ATIS broadcasts on 127.2 MHz, and Honolulu Center works the surrounding airspace on 126.5 MHz. A remote communications outlet is available on 122.6 MHz. The field is equipped with an ILS (serving runway 35), a VORTAC, DME and PAPI visual approach guidance, supporting both instrument and visual arrivals.
Lihue Airport was developed after the Civil Aeronautics Administration judged the earlier Port Allen Airport too small to handle even two-engine aircraft, partly owing to its constrained peninsula site bounded on three sides by water. Following the Second World War the CAA declined to fund Port Allen's restoration and instead invited proposals for a major new airport elsewhere on Kauai. The Territorial Department of Public Works considered Barking Sands Field, some 34 miles from Lihue, too remote from the island's population centre, and noted that mixed military and civilian operations had not worked well elsewhere. Army, Navy and commercial pilots agreed that the Lihue site offered good wind and weather conditions, level ground, easy-to-handle material and proximity to the island's business centre. In 1946 the Territorial Department of Public Works proposed building a Class III airport at Lihue to serve the whole of Kauai, then home to an estimated population of 33,878.
Lihue Airport today provides passenger and general aviation facilities alongside commuter, air taxi and air cargo operations, supported by an air traffic control tower and instrument approach aids including ILS, VORTAC, DME and PAPI. A major construction project beginning in 2024 has relocated runway 03/21 westward by 455 feet and extended it by 855 feet to meet federal safety standards, with associated taxiway and runway 17/35 improvements and LED signage upgrades; the work is expected to be complete in December 2026, so sim pilots referencing current charts should be aware the physical layout has been evolving.