Airline complains fliers can't find airport in Hawaii

Hawaiian carrier Mokulele Airlines says its new service to an Oahu airport is suffering because customers are having a hard time finding the airport.

Mokulele became the first airline to begin flying out of the small Kalaeloa Airport this summer. The airport, located on the west side of the island of Oahu, is a former naval air station that's been opened up to commercial airline flights.

Mokulele was the first carrier to begin regularly scheduled service from the airport, launching flights to Maui's Kahului Airport on July 1.

The Kalaeloa Airport is about 20 miles from Honolulu International, Hawaii's busiest. But Mokulele CEO Ron Hansen tells the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Mokulele's Kalaeloa departures have been riddled with no-shows because of passengers who get lost trying to find the facility.

"We've had a lot of no-shows because people miss the flight because they can't find the airport," Hansen tells the Star-Advertiser.

"When people can't find the airport, how do you expect an airline to survive?" he adds.

Hansen says he's been pressing the state to add more signage to help direct passengers arriving by car.

It may be needed, according to the Star-Advertiser, which writes "there's no airport sign on H-1 instructing drivers to turn off Exit 2 and head toward Kalaeloa."

"And even if drivers negotiate that exit," the Star-Advertiser continues, "the road to the airport constitutes a series of merges and turns through some unpopulated areas before reaching the facility."

Hansen tells the newspaper the number of passengers missing flights is hurting its operation at Kalaeloa.

"Nobody wants to lose money. You can only lose money for so long," Hansen tells the Star-Advertiser about Mokulele's service at Kalaeloa. "It's a small part of our business, and so far we've been successful with all of our other routes, and this is disappointing. There's no airport in the state unmarked."

For time being, however, Mokulele appears to be determined to press ahead in Kalaeloa. The company announced on Oct. 10 that it will add new routes from Kalaeloa to the island of Molokai as well as to a second airport on Maui.

As for Hawaii's Department of Transportation, the agency tells The Associated Press that it's working with various agencies to improve signage toe the airport.