Honolulu airport primary runway reopens after 7-month closure

The reconstruction of the primary runway for arriving aircraft at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport has been completed and was expected to be available for incoming planes as of 6 a.m. today.

Runway 8L’s upgrade began in October and involved construction of a 1,000 lineal- foot stretch of Portland cement concrete at the threshold of the runway, joined with 7,500 lineal feet of polymer-modified asphalt. Runway safety features, such as edge lights and navigational aids, were also upgraded.

During the construction period, all aircraft had to arrive on Runway 4R. The reopening today of 8L restores the use of all four runways at the Honolulu airport.

“Runway safety is a top priority for our airports,” state Transportation Director Ed Sniffen said. “When you have aircraft weighing hundreds of tons carrying hundreds of people, it is crucial that they have a good surface to land on. We appreciate the patience of the travelers and airlines with the reduced capacity and the hard work put in by our partners to get 8L ready for the summer travel season.”

Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Peter Ingram said in an April earnings call with analysts that the runway closure has been disruptive and created operational challenges. He cited project delays and seven months of impairment to the airport’s peak-hour capacity.

“Air Traffic Control protocols to manage the disruption have had a severe negative impact on our neighbor island operation,” Ingram told analysts. “For the past several months, we have commonly seen our (Boeing) 717s held on the ground with extended waits for approval from Air Traffic Control to depart. In the most recent period, this has been a daily phenomenon. These delays then cascade through the day for subsequent flights scheduled for the delayed aircraft.”

Ingram said Hawaiian made adjustments to its operation by putting slack time in the schedule to provide opportunities to recover a line of flying after Air Traffic Control delays.

“This initially yielded some promising improvement to reliability,” he said. “But in recent weeks with the return of daylight savings time schedules, we have seen performance deteriorate again.”

The state DOT said nightly closures of the 8L runway from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. will be needed for a 140-day period to complete improvements to the runway.

Ingram apologized for the effect the runway closure has had on passengers.

”I know this has an impact on our guests who depend on reliable interisland serv­ice and for their jobs and personal lives,” he said. “And we are absolutely committed to getting back to our historically industry-leading on-time performance.”