Waimea-Kohala Airport is a state-owned public-use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

located one nautical mile (2 km) southwest of

Kamuela Waimea is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 7,028 at the 2000 census and 9,212 at the 2010 census. Since each U.S. state cannot have more than one post office of the same name, and t ...

(also known as Waimea), an unincorporated town in Hawai‘i County,

Hawai‘i Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Airlines ( haw, Hui Mokulele o Hawaiʻi ) is the largest operator of commercial flights to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the United States, and is based at Honolulu, Hawaii. The airl ...

began scheduled passenger service from the airport in November 1953. At present the only scheduled air service is by

Mokulele Airlines Southern Airways Express, doing business as Mokulele Airlines, is an American commuter airline operating in Hawaii. The airline operates scheduled inter-island and charter flights among all Hawaiian islands with airports. Mokulele Airlines was ...

, which offers twice daily service to Kahului, Maui (OGG). It is included in the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

(FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025, in which it is categorized as a non-primary commercial service facility.

Facilities and aircraft

Waimea-Kohala Airport covers an area of at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

designated 4/22 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

surface measuring . The airport has one

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...

and an aircraft parking apron at the west end of the runway serving the passenger terminal and

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

facilities. No fueling or airport traffic

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

facilities are provided. An aircraft rescue and fire fighting facility shares space in the airport maintenance facility. For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2016, the airport had 4,178 aircraft operations, an average of 11 per day: 57%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, 31%

and 12%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. In April 2022, there were 4 aircraft based at this airport: 2 single-engine and 2 multi-engine.

Airline and destination

Mokulele Airlines serves the airport with

Cessna 208 The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargo ...

EX Grand Caravan commuter turboprop aircraft. Previously,

Pacific Wings Pacific Wings Airline was an American commuter airline headquartered in Mesa, Arizona, United States in Greater Phoenix. The airline operated flights under the brands New Mexico Airlines in New Mexico, GeorgiaSkies in Georgia, TennesseeSkies ...

operated service to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

and

Kahului Kahului () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It hosts the county's main airport (Kahului Airport), deep-draft harbor, light industrial areas, and commercial shopping centers. The population was 26,337 ...

. Originally subsidized by the

Essential Air Service Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service. Its aim is t ...

program, Pacific Wings began serving Waimea-Kohala without subsidy on April 1, 2007. By May 2013, when reports emerged the airline was ending all service in Hawaii, the airline had already ceased serving Waimea-Kohala Airport.

, Schuman Aviation, and Pacific Wings submitted bids to the DOT to provide service at the airport, however only Mokulele and Schuman have proposed actual flights—Pacific Wings suggested two buses a day to Kona. On July 2, 2013, the US DOT awarded the contract to Mokulele Airlines for service to Kahului. Mokulele began operating flights to Waimea-Kohala on September 21, 2013.

Historical airline service

The airport previously had scheduled passenger jet service operated by

Aloha Airlines Aloha Airlines was an American airline headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, operating from a hub at Honolulu International Airport (now Daniel K. Inouye International Airport). Operations began on July 26, 1946, and ceased operations on March 3 ...

and

, both of which referred to the airport as Kamuela in their respective system timetables during the 1960s. In 1966, Hawaiian Airlines was operating a daily

Douglas DC-9-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

jet flight with a routing of Hilo (ITO) - Kamuela (MUE) - Kahului, Maui (OGG) - Honolulu (HNL) and was also serving the airport with

Convair 640 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inr ...

turboprops on flights to Honolulu, Maui and Kona at this time. In 1968, Aloha Airlines was flying daily British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven jet service with a routing of Kamuela (MUE) - Kahului, Maui (OGG) - Honolulu (HNL) and was also operating flights with

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Vi ...

turboprops with daily nonstop service from Honolulu with this flight continuing on to Kona (KOA) at this time. In 1976, Hawaiian Airlines was operating daily McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jet service into the airport with a round trip routing of HNL-OGG-MUE. By 1981, Hawaiian Airlines was serving the airport with

de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, d ...

turboprops on nonstop flights between Waimea and Kahului, Maui and Honolulu.http://www.departedflights.com, June 6, 1981 Hawaiian Airlines timetable Princeville Airways/Aloha Island Air also operated to Kamuela airport in the late 1980s & 1990's. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_Air_(Hawaii)

References

Other sources

* Essential Air Service documents
Docket OST-1997-2833
from the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

: *
Order 2005-3-34
Reselecting Pacific Wings Airlines to provide essential air service (EAS) at Hana, Kalaupapa, and Kamuela, Hawaii, for the period from April 1, 2005, through March 31, 2007, at an annual rate of $1,597,422 for the first year and at an annual rate of $1,501,752 for the second year. *
Order 2006-12-3
Terminating the carrier-selection proceeding for Essential Air Service at Hana, Kalaupapa, and Kamuela, Hawaii. The incumbent EAS carrier, Pacific Wings, has proposed to continue to provide all three communities' EAS on a subsidy-free basis beginning April 1, 2007.

External links

Waimea-Kohala Airport (MUE)
at Hawaii DOT
Topographic map
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to pro ...

'' * * {{authority control Airports in Hawaii Transportation in Hawaii County, Hawaii Buildings and structures in Hawaii County, Hawaii Essential Air Service Airports established in 1953 1953 establishments in Hawaii