Tuesday morning will see the reopening of the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in Keahole. Thousands of travelers were affected the day before when multiple flights were canceled due to a safety concern involving runway fractures.
Hawaiian media said that at 4:20 p.m. on Monday, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) closed Kona International Airport in order to inspect runway defects.
It was declared that due to damage to a portion of the runway, it would not be feasible to operate the airport throughout the night.
Due to the Kona closure, numerous airlines were forced to postpone or reroute their flights at this time.
Among the flights diverted were those operated by United Airlines from Los Angeles, American Airlines from Los Angeles, and Southwest Airlines from Las Vegas.
Approximately 700 individuals were impacted by Hawaiian Airlines’ Monday cancellation of five interisland flights to Kona and one from Los Angeles, the airline reported.
A 10-by-10-foot portion is being milled and resurfaced by contractors, according to the department, and the work is anticipated to be finished before Tuesday morning.
According to the government, travelers whose flights are expected to arrive or depart from Kona on Tuesday are urged to confirm with their airline before going to the airport.
Additionally, according to DOT spokesman Russell Pang, “repairs to the whole 11,000-foot runway had been planned for this year, but recent rains caused cracks to form and the runway pavement’s deterioration to accelerate.”
