Waimea Kohala Airport Guide

Waimea-Kohala Airport is a state-owned public airport on the Big Island of Hawaii, about one nautical mile southwest of Waimea. It serves the town also known as Kamuela and the surrounding Kohala upland. The field sits at 2,671 feet above sea level on roughly 90 acres, in cool ranch country well above the coast.

The airport replaced Kamuela Airport, a World War II facility run by the 3rd Marine Division. Construction of the new field began in January 1952, the runway was finished in April 1953, and Hawaiian Airlines began scheduled flights on July 1, 1953. A 1969 legislative resolution gave the airport its present name to avoid confusion with Waimea on Kauai. A single asphalt runway, 4/22, measures 5,197 by 100 feet. The passenger terminal stands at the west end of the runway beside the general aviation area and apron. There is no control tower. The airport recorded 4,178 aircraft operations in the 12 months to June 2016, about 11 a day.

Pacific Wings served the airport from 2007 until it ended its Hawaii operations in 2013. Mokulele Airlines took over in September 2013 under a federal contract and flies to Kahului on Maui, with Kailua-Kona also listed as a destination. Scheduled traffic is light, so most visitors reach Waimea by rental car from Kona or Hilo.