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Over 1,000 people flew to Hawaii Friday, one-third were visitors

Of the 1,003 people who flew to Hawaii from out of state Friday, nearly 350 of them were visitors, according to a report by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Hawaii generally flies in some 30,000 visitors per day during this time of year, but after the implementation of the state’s 14-day travel quarantine to fight the spread of COVID-19, that number plummeted to as low as 83 visitors on April 23.

But since then the number of visitors has been slowly trending upward, and on Friday HTA reported 345 visitor arrivals to the state.

It’s the largest group of people who arrived to Hawaii, followed by the 270 residents who indicated they were returning home.

Unsurprisingly, a majority — about 900 — of the total passengers who came to Hawaii by air landed on Oahu. There were 235 returning residents and 293 visitors. Of those visitors, 204 indicated on the Department of Transportation’s Mandatory Travel Declaration Form that they were visiting family and friends; 31 said they were there just for vacation; 28 said they flew in for business; and 18 people left the “Purpose for Visit” field blank.

Half of Maui’s 70 arrivals were visitors, and 30 were residents. Only five of Lihue’s 21 arrivals were returning residents, but 14 were visitors. Only seven people landed in Kona on the Big Island Friday: three were visitors, and four were crew members.

HTA also reported that 72 people who flew to Hawaii Friday indicated that they were moving to the state, and 68 of them landed on Oahu.

Hawaii saw a total of 18 flights Friday, and 14 of them landed on Oahu.

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