Kona airport awarded $5.5M in federal funds for runway improvements

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawai‘i Democrat, announced this week that the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded more than $5.5 million of new grant funding to the state of Hawai‘i for runway improvements at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport.

“This new federal funding will help modernize and strengthen infrastructure at Kona International Airport, making it more reliable and safer for travelers,” said Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing, in the funding announcement.

Schatz has helped secure a total of more than $70 million to complete the state’s ongoing runway rehabilitation project at the West Hawai‘i airport.

The new money increases available funding to restore and upgrade the runway to meet modern standards and ensure its long-term reliability.

Hawai‘i Department of Transportation began the rehab project in October 2024. It is part of ongoing efforts by the state to improve airport infrastructure and facilities throughout the islands.

The project is estimated to be completed in April 2026.

Project scope includes rehabilitation, reconstruction and repair to Runway 17-35 to meet current Federal Aviation Administration design guidelines.

Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport — the largest airport on Hawai‘i Island and the state’s second international entry point — was forced to close several times from January to April 2024 because of cracks or holes opening in the 11,000-foot runway, requiring emergency repairs and each time disrupting flight schedules.

The most recent was in April 2024. The most disruptive perhaps was Jan. 15, 2024, on the verge of the state rolling out its runway improvements project, after an 8-by-2-inch crack became a 3-foot hole in the Kona airport’s only runway.

It was one of three large blemishes state Department of Transportation crews eventually identified that day. Two were repaired and the third left until the next night in an effort to lessen the impact on airport operations.

Unfortunately, equipment malfunction and issues with asphalt cooling caused a delay of the third crack’s repair.

The closure just on the day after cracks and holes were initially discovered alone resulted in the disruption of a total 26 flights — 17 interisland and nine trans-Pacific.

More information about the ongoing Kona airport runway rehab project is available on the state Transportation Department Airports Airfield Projects website.

All work is weather permitting.