A few words in a Homeland Security funding bill could reopen Kona International Airport to international travelers.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz told West Hawaii Today on Thursday that he’s added language to the bill to give U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection more flexibility in using the stone and tentlike structure that has in the past processed travelers coming from international destinations.
The building hasn’t been used for that purpose for more than five years because of security concerns. But Schatz, D-Hawaii, said the language in the bill would help bring staffing back to the facility to allow it to be used again. He said the bill should be finalized in September.
“We’re hopeful right now; we’ve been encouraged by the support,” Schatz said. “This issue is very important to the Big Island.”
Schatz said the language has already been approved by the Commerce Subcommittee on Tourism, Competitiveness, and Innovation, which he chairs.
It’s part of a two-pronged approach being taken to bring commercial international airlines back to Kona, not only to boost Big Island tourism, but also to relieve some of the stress from busy Honolulu International Airport.
Schatz and Gov. David Ige have been working with Homeland Security to allow preclearance of international travelers at some departure ports, to avoid long lines at their arrival airports and allow them to land at ports that don’t have the facilities to process them there.
The plan to begin negotiations to bring air preclearance operations to Narita, Japan, and nine other new foreign airports was announced in May. Included in the plan are airports in the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Turkey, Belgium and the Dominican Republic.
Japanese tourism comprised 18 percent of Hawaii’s visitors last year, bringing more than $2.5 billion to the state. Customs and Border Protection currently operates 15 preclearance locations in six foreign countries.
Because Narita is a major international hub for other Asian countries, the preclearance would help boost arrivals from countries that transit through Japan, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Some 60 percent of Japanese visitors — whose per-person spending ranks near the top of any visiting country — end up returning to Hawaii, HTA officials said.
With five to 10 charter flights from Japan arriving on island annually, most of them in Kona, West Hawaii is ideally positioned to reap the benefit of Japanese demand, Ross Birch, executive director of the Big Island Visitor’s Bureau, said at the time of the preclearance announcement. But other destinations around Hawaii stand to benefit too, he said.
A state Department of Transportation spokesman said Thursday the department has heard preliminary discussions about the plan to reopen the Kona facility, but didn’t yet have all the details. The airport improvements, coupled with the preclearance plans, could bring needed relief, he said.
“It is something the Hawaii Department of Transportation is definitely seeking,” said spokesman Tim Sakahara.