Travelers in air-travel-dependent Hawaii can now apply for faster, easier security checks at a new kiosk at Honolulu Airport.

The Transportation Security Administration opened the new application site for its PreCheck expedited security program last week at the airport’s Interisland Terminal. Applicants can provide proof of U.S. citizenship, pay an $85 fee for five-year membership, submit fingerprints there and then receive official membership in the mail a few weeks later after a background check, according to TSA spokesman Nico Melendez.

TSA already has an application office at 1415 Kapiolani Blvd. as well as sites on Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island. The new office aims to offer travelers a more convenient option for taking care of the paperwork and fingerprints needed to obtain PreCheck membership, he said.

“This is going to be good for passengers who actually come in the airport, get the enrollment done quickly, get on their way while they’re at the airport,” Melendez said Tuesday. PreCheck lanes allow travelers to leave on their shoes, “light outerwear” (in addition to clothing) and belt, and keep laptops in their cases, according to a TSA statement.

At Honolulu Airport, which sees around 20,000 passengers each day, the program helps travelers save about 15 to 20 minutes when the airport is at its busiest — usually between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Interisland Terminal, Melendez said. The program is in place at more than 150 airports, according to the TSA statement.

An appointment can be booked online at tsa.gov. The kiosk also offers walk-in sessions, Melendez said.

With air travel vital for island-hopping in Hawaii, local airline officials and U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz pushed in 2013 to expand PreCheck so that interisland passengers could also use it — an effort that eventually succeeded, Melendez said.

Also, air travelers should now clear security more quickly at the airport’s Overseas Terminal. Recently the TSA had to close one of its main security checkpoints there because of an “air conditioning leak issue,” Melendez said.

“We’ve worked with the state, we’ve worked with the airport. It’s been resolved,” he said Tuesday. “For a six-week period half of our ability to get passengers through was nonexistent.”

Displaying dozens of knives, scissors and other items, including a cleaver, that had been seized at Honolulu Airport in recent weeks, Melendez encouraged passengers to find out in advance what’s permitted to pass through airport security. The most surprising item Melendez said he ever saw was a “fully gassed, ready-to-go chain saw.”