Kona Airport in flux

The state Airports Division and tourism officials are hoping the third time is the charm when they petition U.S. Customs and Border Protection to allow them to reopen Kona Airport as a second international port of entry.

Honolulu has been Hawaii’s only international point of entry since Customs and Border Protection shut down the Kona port of entry in 2012 because its Federal Inspection Service site no longer met their requirements. The tentlike structure had been used since 1996 to process customers arriving on nonstop Japan Airlines flights and charters. But federal law gives CBP the authority to limit the locations where private aircraft entering the U.S. from a foreign area may land.

"It was CBP’s decision to close the port. We are still in discussions with them to find out why it didn’t meet their requirements anymore and what we will need to do to be recertified," said state Department of Transportation spokes­woman Caro­line Sluyter. "Discussions are ongoing about whether we would need to build a new site or if we could upgrade the current facility to meet their standards."

If a new facility is needed, Sluyter said, it could be integrated into an estimated $70 million in upgrades that have been planned as part of the Kona International Airport Terminal Modernization program.

"Future work includes a centralized ticket lobby, terminal upgrades, new restrooms and other improvements such as re-roofing," she said.

In the meantime, Sluyter said the state is asking CBP for a five-year exemption that would allow Kona to reopen its current Federal Inspection Service site while details for a facility upgrade or new build are worked out. Because CBP’s labor resources are strapped, Sluyter said Hawaii is also asking CBP to allow them to pay Hono­lulu international inspection workers overtime to cover additional duties in Kona.

"Due to CBP limitations, we would have to fly officers from Hono­lulu to Kona," said Ross Higa­shi, deputy director of the state Department of Transportation’s Airports Division. "They (CBP) requested 4,300 positions this year and only got 2,000. So right now if we opened it up, we’d have to pay officers overtime to handle Kona’s international flights."

The state DOT submitted requests to reopen the international port in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 but was turned down due to CBP’s limited resources and the fact that Kona still didn’t have an approved Federal Inspection Services facility to accommodate and welcome foreign visitors.

"Where we’ve got the white-skin tent, they want a more permanent structure," said Higa­shi, adding that these upgrades would be funded with a combination of revenue bonds, passenger facility charges and cash.

Still, this time around, Higa­shi said he’s "very optimistic" about the state’s chance of securing one of CBP’s coveted exemptions, which are given to only five locations each year.

"The DOT director and I met with the CBP commissioner and his deputy up in (Washington, D.C.), and it was well worth the travel," he said. "Even if we are a little island in the Pacific, we are a medium-contact airport and we thrive on international travel. More importantly, we have only one international port of entry. I’m hopeful that this year’s (request) will get us an exemption."

Higashi said that the Hawaii Tourism Authority and other supporters of Hawaii’s visitor industry need to get international carriers to express interest in reopening Kona as a port of entry for their customers.

A second point of entry is needed to protect and grow the state’s tourism industry, said Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO Mike McCartney, who is pushing for Kona’s international port reopening along with Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Hono­lulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and other politicians and supporters of Hawaii’s visitor industry.

"In 2013 there were nearly 3 million international visitors that came to the Hawaiian Islands, with a vast majority arriving at the Hono­lulu International Airport. As we look to further diversify our tourism profile and draw more international visitors across all of the Hawaiian Islands, opening Kona as a second international port of for the state will continue to be a priority for the HTA," McCartney said.

Higashi said David Uchi­yama, the HTA’s vice president of brand management, is working on building interest from the airlines so that Hawaii can build a compelling case.

Uchiyama said developing carrier interest is important because the state needs to ensure that more than one international carrier is flying into Kona if the port is reopened. Demand for Kona’s international port of entry dropped dramatically when Japan Airlines ceased direct flights to that destination in 2010, although the carrier did continue to bring international passengers there on charters until CBP shut the port down in 2012.

"But I think there’s a lot of interest among carriers in not coming through Hono­lulu," Uchi­yama said.

Wholesalers are interested, too.

"Reopening the port of entry in Kona should be a strong priority," said Tsu­kasa Haru­fuku, president and CEO of JTB Hawaii, which last year handled 430,000 arrivals from Japan to Hawaii, or 28 percent of the nearly 1.52 million total visitors from Japan to Hawaii in 2013.

While Oahu is a strong performer for the company, Japa­nese trips to the neighbor islands are lagging due to the increased costs and inconvenience from the lack of direct international access, said Akio Ho­shino, corporate officer and operating officer of community relations for JTB Hawaii.