Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Upolu Airport is a small, uncontrolled general aviation field on the northern tip of Hawaii's Big Island, three miles northwest of the town of Hawi. Built in 1927 for the United States Air Service and once known as Suiter Field, it remains a single-runway strip with no aviation services, popular with pilots visiting the remote North Kohala coast.
Upolu Airport (ICAO: PHUP) sits on the far northern point of the island of Hawaii, three miles northwest of the small town of Hawi in the North Kohala district. It is a public-use general aviation airport owned and operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation, with no scheduled airline service. For a sim pilot, its appeal lies in its dramatic clifftop setting at the tip of the Big Island, its single short asphalt runway, and its long and slightly obscure military history.
Upolu Airport lies in uncontrolled airspace at the northern tip of the island of Hawaii, well clear of the Class C airspace surrounding the larger fields at Kona and Hilo. The nearest airport with published instrument procedures is Waimea-Kohala Airport (PHMU), roughly 19 nautical miles to the southeast; Hana Airport (PHHN) lies about 33 nautical miles north, Kona International Airport (PHKO) about 33 nautical miles south, Kahului Airport (PHOG) about 50 nautical miles northwest, and Hilo International Airport (PHTO) about 56 nautical miles southeast. The field is reached by a roadway off the Akoni Pule Highway.
Upolu Airport has a single physical runway, 07/25, of 3,793 feet, hard-surfaced and lit. There are no taxiways serving the runway; two aircraft parking areas lie to its south, one historically supporting terminal operations and the other providing tie-down space for general aviation aircraft.
Traffic at Upolu Airport should be worked on the CTAF of 122.9 MHz, as there is no control tower or air traffic control service at the field. A remote communications outlet on 112.3 MHz is associated with Honolulu Radio. The airport has no instrument approach procedures and no ILS.
There is no published local circuit or joining procedure specific to Upolu Airport in the available material; pilots should use standard uncontrolled-airfield practice, broadcasting intentions on the CTAF and remaining alert for other traffic, given the absence of a tower or fire and rescue facilities.
The airport occupies the northern tip of the Big Island, making the coastline and the point itself a clear visual reference from the air. The town of Hawi lies about three miles to the southeast, and the field is accessed from the Akoni Pule Highway, which can assist in visually confirming the airport's position when approaching from that direction.
Upolu Airport traces its origins to June 1927, when Executive Order No. 287 set aside land within the ahupuaa of Kealahewa for an airplane landing field to be used by the United States Air Service under the control of the War Department, on land previously deeded to the Territory of Hawaii by the Hawaii Mill and Plantation Company. In 1933 the U.S. Army named the airfield Suiter Field, in honor of 1st Lieutenant Wilbur C. Suiter of the 135th Aero Squadron, and the United States Signal Corps maintained a communications station there. Inter-Island Airways, which began passenger service in 1929, used the field as an emergency stop on its route to Hilo and to provide air service to the Kohala district. On September 18, 1930, Governor's Executive Order No. 432 combined Territory of Hawaii land with the Suiter Field land to establish a territorial airport known as Upolu Airport, and further adjustments followed with Executive Orders No. 410 and No. 556 in 1930. The field was maintained with Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Works Progress Administration funds prior to 1937, and between 1937 and 1939 further WPA funding extended the runway to 3,500 feet and made other improvements.
Upolu Airport remains a small general aviation facility covering roughly 82 to 84 acres, with a single asphalt runway, no taxiways, and separate parking areas for terminal and general aviation use. There is no control tower, and the airport has no aviation services and no fuel available. For the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2008, the airport recorded 790 aircraft operations, an average of 65 per month, with 89 percent general aviation, 10 percent military and 1 percent air taxi traffic. The Hawaii State Legislature has made preliminary plans for a parallel taxiway and relocated terminal facilities should traffic increase, though no timeline is given in the available material.