Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole

Ellison Onizuka Kona International at Keahole is the primary airport on the dry west coast of Hawaii's Big Island and the island's main long-haul gateway, handling nearly all transoceanic arrivals from the US mainland, Japan, and Canada. It is named for Ellison Onizuka, the Kona-born astronaut killed in the 1986 Challenger disaster, and sits on a lava field at the Keahole Point — a setting that gives the airport its unmistakable architectural signature of open-air, thatched-roof boarding pavilions rather than enclosed gates, a design chosen in 1970 to showcase Hawaii's climate rather than fight it. A single 3,353 m (11,000 ft) asphalt runway supports approximately 80 routes to 51 destinations across 19 airlines. Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest, Alaska, United, American, and Delta operate the bulk of scheduled services to the US mainland; Japan Airlines and ANA serve Tokyo (Narita and Haneda), making KOA one of relatively few US airports with long-standing scheduled nonstop service from Japan to a non-hub destination. Air Canada WestJet seasonal services link Vancouver and Calgary. KOA is the principal alternative to Honolulu for Big Island visitors — Hilo Airport on the east side handles primarily interisland traffic — and sits at the doorstep of the Kohala Coast resort strip, home to Mauna Kea Beach, Hualalai, and Waikoloa properties. The airport is also a significant operational base for interisland carrier Hawaiian Airlines' neighbor-island fleet and for air ambulance and Hawaii State helicopter services to Mauna Kea's observatories. A multi-phase modernization program is upgrading the terminal, parking, and international arrivals facility. KOA handled approximately 4.0M passengers in 2023, making it Hawaii's third-busiest airport after Honolulu and Kahului.