New law expected to bring $250 million to Hawaii airports

Sep. 1—Statewide public airport funding from President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is estimated to reach at least $250 million over the next five years, with more than $49 million of the first allocation earmarked for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

Statewide public airport funding from President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is estimated to reach at least $250 million over the next five years, with more than $49 million of the first allocation earmarked for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration announced Hawaii's first-year award Wednesday from the Airport Infrastructure Grant program, one of three aviation programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

DOT Airports Division Deputy Director Ross Higashi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Wednesday that the legislation provides for five years of automatic allocations, and also allows qualifying airports to apply for competitive awards.

He said Hawaii will use its first year of AIG-allocated funds to rehabilitate the shoulders for Runway 4L /22R and 4R /22L at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport to maintain the structural integrity of the pavement, minimize foreign-­object debris, and help improve safety and efficiency at the airport.

Higashi said construction on those projects started this month and is expected to be completed by October 2024. He said the AIG allocation will help underwrite the project's expected $136 million cost.

Higashi said for the first two years out of five years AIG allocations are based on the 2019 count of passengers, so Hawaii will receive $49.3 million annually. Higashi said the next three years of allocations depends on the actual traffic versus the U.S. total.

Higashi said in the second and third years, Hawaii is planning to use its AIG allocation for AK1031-14 Lihue Runway 3-21 RSA (Runway Safety Area ) Improvements &Airfield Lighting Replacement, and then AH2021-16 Kona Runway 17-35 rehabilitation. He said Honolulu Taxiway A improvements are planned for the fourth and fifth years of the AIG allocation.

Higashi said the law also set aside money for AIG competitive funding, of which Honolulu already has received $10 million for its second-floor terminal roadway rehabilitation. He said the state has plans to apply next year for additional AIG competitive funding, which isn't automatically allocated like the AIG allocated funds.

The FAA said the law seeks to make a historic investment in communities by rebuilding America's roads, bridges and rails, upgrade and expand public transit, modernize the nation's ports and airports, while increasing public safety, improving the environment and creating jobs.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement, "Airports aren't just travel hubs, they're also vital job centers and the economic lifeblood of entire communities and regions. Thanks to the President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have funding to improve airports of all sizes around the country, creating new jobs and helping get people where they need to go."

The federal stimulus coming to Hawaii through the AIG is in addition to the funding that Hawaii already gets from the FAA's Airport Improvement Program, which comes from the Airport and Airway Trust fund created in 1970 and funded through taxes on the aviation system.

From fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2021, the FAA website reports that Hawaii received approximately $904.8 million in AIP funds, of which more than $504. 5 million went to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. The FAA reported that some $42.3 million of the AIP funds that went to Daniel K. Inouye International during that time were for taxiways and runways.

Keith Vieira, principal of KV &Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said the news will be great for Hawaii tourism, which is the state's most important industry.

"Tourism drives our economy. If we want to successfully manage it, we need to give people a quality experience. It starts and ends with a quality airport experience, " Vieira said. "If we want to attract higher-­spending visitors, we need to improve our airport facilities from the runways and taxiways to the restrooms to the stores and food and beverage outlets."

Airport rehabilitation is generally supported in Hawaii. However, some communities like Kauai have been less tolerant of airport improvement projects that are perceived as supporting tourism expansion.

KC Connors, moderator of the Facebook site ETA Hawaii—Enough Tourists Already, said she and others who are concerned about overtourism fear that airport improvements could lead to expansion efforts. She said Kauai residents already have pushed back against a state modernization plan that would add three gates and expand rental car capacity.

"Kauai figured out if they don't have the airport capacity the tourists won't come, " Connors said.

Higashi said the Hawaii DOT Airports Division's plans for Lihue Airport were based in part on the island being able to handle a projected 4.5 million annual departing and arriving passengers.

He said that he has since held virtual meetings with about 300 Kauai community members and told them that the state was taking the three gates off the table, but would make other improvements to the airport like renovating restrooms and terminals and fixing up runways and taxiways.