Molokai Airport


Founded in 1927, Molokai Airport, also known as Hoolehua Airport is a state-owned, public use airport located six nautical miles northwest of Kaunakakai, on the island of Molokai in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. It is the principal airport of the island.
As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 89,468 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 65,984 enplanements in 2009, and 88,688 in 2010. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.

Facilities and aircraft

Molokai Airport occupies at an elevation of above mean sea level on the central plateau of the island of Molokai. The airport has two asphalt paved runways that accommodate commuter/air taxi and general aviation activities, as well as some military flights: Runway 5/23 is and Runway 17/35 is.
The passenger terminal complex and general aviation facilities are north of the runway intersection; the passenger terminal complex is near the principal runway and the general aviation facilities are near the crosswind runway. Vehicular access to these two areas is provided by separate access roadways, each connecting with Keonelele Avenue.
For the 12-month period ending April 20, 2011, the airport had 49,804 aircraft operations, an average of 136 per day: 59% general aviation, 40% air taxi, and 1% military. At that time there were 4 aircraft based at this airport, all single-engine.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines offer scheduled passenger service at this airport:
Island Air ended flights between Honolulu and Molokai Airport on April 1, 2014.

Incidents

On October 28, 1989,, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, collided with mountains near Halawa Valley, Molokai, while en route on a scheduled passenger flight from Kahului Airport to Molokai Airport in Hoolehua. The NTSB determined the cause of the accident was the airplane's controlled flight into terrain as a result of the decision of the captain to continue the flight under visual flight rules at night into instrument meteorological conditions, which obscured rising mountains. All 20 aboard the aircraft died. Thirteen of the victims were from Molokai, including eight members of the Molokai High School boys and girls volleyball teams and two faculty members. The girls team had just qualified on Maui for the state tournament.