Kona Airport

Customer Reviews

No Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 18 reviews
2/10
No Skytrax Rating
Sort Reviews by :
Show
1/10

"A disgraceful experience"

(United States)

Trip Verified | I have flown in and out of this airport several times and it is by far the worst airport I have experienced in the USA and throughout the world. There is no air conditioning or adequate seating. When it rains propel are huddled under limited cover. There are no walls or physical buildings but a series of open air pavilions. There are too many slights arriving and departing for the airport. There are limited restrooms. As an inter island airport it might be adequate but this is an international airport serving 777s, 787 and 767s. There are no jet ways, no cover to protect from heat or rain. A disgraceful experience.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitMarch 2023
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"worst airport that I have experienced"

(United States)

Trip Verified | The worst airport that I have experienced in 34 years of travel. Even worse than airports in developing countries. It is dark, dirty, brown, low ceilings, no functioning toilets in the gate area (!), there are almost no services, food, shopping. Scarce electrical outlets for recharging. There are two souvenir shops, and the "restaurant" was in disarray, old, uninviting. Seating in the gate area is restricted to wooden benches. Big 737s deplane and board from the tarmac. It took over 30 minutes for the handicapped and disabled to be hauled up ramps by the one porter on duty. Staff were friendly, and tried to reassure people, but we were late leaving because how long it took them to deplane, clean, and load people in wheelchairs. If you have to fly to Kona, plan things so you can spend as little time as possible in the airport. I can't understand how a state that prides itself in beauty and tourism would want this airport to be the first thing tourists see, or the last thing they'll remember. Perhaps there are plans for a new airport to be built, and so they are not spending anymore on the old one? Who knows. But there is no excuse for dirty and a lack of facilities in the gate area.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitMarch 2023
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"Had to wait an hour after landing"

(United States)

Not Verified | There are no physical gates but apparently some plane was using our gate so we couldn’t get off the damn plane even though they just need to bring the ramp over for us to get off. Had to wait an hour after landing because they were being dumb and just having us wait for our gate to clear up instead of trying to actually fix the issue and it made me go insane because it’s not like I can just leave, I am physically trapped in the airplane.
Experience At AirportArrival Only
Date VisitJune 2022
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"Horrible. No air conditioning"

(United States)

Not Verified | Horrible. No air conditioning. Ridiculous agricultural inspection happens twice. Twice. Why? The seating is uncomfortable. Everything is outside. It’s hot. And the buildings block any natural breeze that could provide relief. I’ve traveled to several “third world” countries and all of them have better airports. Not sure I would recommend coming here unless you get an evening flight out. And eat before you get here.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitMarch 2022
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"the worst laid out airport I've ever visited"

(Canada)

Not Verified | This is without a doubt the worst laid out airport I've ever visited. We found it incredibly confusing to navigate since everything is choppy and spread out without proper signage. The bench seating is incredibly uncomfortable and with multiple flights going out you're packed into the gates like sardines. You have to clear agriculture twice, why it can't be once I don't understand (is this an American thing or specific to Hawaii?). Once you have cleared your bags you can't actually take them with you to use the bathroom without rechecking them. And yeah, you actually somehow do not have bathrooms past the bag checkpoint so for travelling alone it's a massive headache. The security people tell you to have your travel companion watch your bags so you can use the washroom without re-scanning, but why can't they just add restrooms by the gates? Once at the gates there are no food options and even the snack/souvenir store closes well before the flights finish for the night. The open air may be good for protection against COVID but given how many people were only half wearing masks and some not at all, the staff need to enforce proper mask wearing is still required. The signage for catching rental car shuttles is also missing, which caused a lot of confusion.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitJanuary 2022
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
5/10

"They obviously do not want you to be comfortable"

(United States)

Not Verified | Do not come early. They obviously do not want you to be comfortable. Alcohol only inside the restaurant, but zero chairs to sit in. You have to stand. Ridiculous.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitSeptember 2021
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"we were met my incredibly rude and aggressive TSA staff"

(United States)

Trip Verified | This is quite literally the worst airport I have ever been to. Our disappointment began the night before when we attempted to check into our flight and could not. We sat on the phone for 3+ hours with no help given or even answer to our calls. Upon arrival to the airport to attempt check-in we were demanded to weigh our carry on bags even though we did not ask to, then since they were 2lbs over, we were forced to open our luggage (my underwear exposed to the entire airport) and move some clothing from our carry on just to our personal items (our backpacks). After that fiasco, we were met my incredibly rude and aggressive TSA staff that split my husband and I up and threw my husband into a line with no bins to put his electronics in and then proceeded to yell at him for not moving fast enough, which he couldn’t due to not have any bins provided to him! This airport also made us get a covid test after landing which made no sense after we just paid $280 to get one in order to fly here so their decision making process is basically not there. Again, worst airport I have ever been too and will not be coming back and suggest to anyone to fly any where else!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitMay 2021
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"Lots of room for improvement!"

(United States)

Trip Verified | This airport, besides being completely dated, gives visitors a horrible impression. The 'restaurant' in Terminal 1 is a bad fast food facility. Why not provide healthy food instead? There are also insufficient seating areas in the pre USDA boarding area, and in those available there is no social distancing observed. There are also vacant buildings that instead could house a lounge, which this airport is also lacking. Lots of room for improvement!
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitMay 2021
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
3/10

"Lines. Lines and more lines"

(United States)

Not Verified | Lines. Lines and more lines. Took us about an hour and 15 minutes to make it through agricultural inspection for checked bags, luggage check, TSA, and agricultural inspection for carry-on. Plan ahead. Limited seating in gate areas.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitMarch 2020
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"every employee we encountered was rude"

(United States)

Not Verified | Everyone working was extremely rude which made my entire experience stressful and terrible. Extremely hot everywhere you go and a total mess. No terminals are put together or organized and every employee we encountered was rude.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitJuly 2019
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1 to 10 of 18 Reviews