Kahului Airport is a regional airport located in the state of Hawaii, United States. It is situated on the east of Kahului CDP in Maui County on the island of Maui, near Haleakala. The airport is a publicly owned entity and operated by the Hawaii Department of Transportation. It serves Kahului and Wailuku area and flights from the United States to Maui island. It became the hub for Hawaiian Airlines. Most flights operating into Kahului Airport originated from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport of Honolulu, which was one of the heaviest trafficked airlines in the United States, ranking 13th place with 1,632,000 passengers according to statistics in 2014.
The airport codes are IATA: OGG, FAA LID: OGG, ICAO: PHOG. The IATA airport code 'OGG' pays respect to aviation pioneer Bertram J. "Jimmy" Hogg, a Kauai native aviation pioneer who worked for what is now called Hawaiian Airlines. Accordingly, Kahului Airport is often shortly referred to as Kahului OGG or only OGG Airport.
Capacity
The Kahului airport occupies approximately 1,391 acres of land, located 3 miles east-side of the city of Kahului. The airport has recently estimated around 6.5 million passengers per year. Nowadays Kahului corridor has one of the busiest air routes within the States of Hawaii and the U.S.
There are top 10 domestic routes that depart from the airport; courses include Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Lihue, Portland, Kailua, Dallas, Oakland, and San José.
Briefly on the History of Kahului Airport
The airport construction started in 1942, on Naval Air Station of Kahului. As a result of extensive war negotiations between the Navy and the Territory of Hawaii, it resulted in the airbase to the Hawaii Aeronautics Commission. Later in June 1952, The Kahului Airport began commercial airline operations.
Recent Improvements in the airport
The Kahului airport is going through the improvements and expansion authorized by the Hawaii State Legislature. The main goal is to prepare the OGG Airport to become a permanent International Airport with routes from Japan and Canada. Currently, United States border preclearance facilities are used by flights from Canada. Kahului Airport Master Plan has been set and updated. Under the December 2016, two more aircraft parking areas would be added for the main passenger terminal. The current 13 positions are set for ten overseas and three inter-island aircraft.