History
HNL opened in March 1927 as John Rodgers Airport, named after World War I naval officer John Rodgers. It was funded by the territorial legislature and the Chamber of Commerce, and was the first full airport in Hawaii: aircraft had previously been limited to small landing strips, fields or seaplane docks. From 1939 to 1943, the adjacent Keehi Lagoon was dredged for use by seaplanes, and the dredged soil was moved to HNL to provide more space for conventional airplanes.
The U.S. military grounded all civilian aircraft and took over all civilian airports after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Rodgers Field was designated Naval Air Station Honolulu. The Navy built a control tower and terminal building, and some civilian commercial traffic was allowed during daylight hours. Rodgers Field was returned to the Territory of Hawaii in 1946. At the time, at 4,019 acres (16.26 km2), it was one of the largest airports in the United States, with four paved land runways and three seaplane runways.
John Rodgers Airport was renamed Honolulu Airport in 1947; the word "International" was added to the name in 1951. Due to its proximity to the center of the Pacific Ocean, it was historically a stop for many transpacific flights to and from North America. By 1950, it was the third-busiest airport in the United States in terms of aircraft operations, and its 13,097-foot (3,992 m) runway was declared the longest in the world in 1953. In 1959, Qantas began the first jet service to Honolulu as a stop on its flights between Australia and California. Aeronautical engineer and airline consultant, Frank Der Yuen, advised in the design of the original building and founded its aerospace museum.
The original terminal building was replaced by the John Rodgers Terminal, which was dedicated on August 22, 1962 and opened for passenger traffic on October 14, 1962. This terminal was expanded several times with the addition of the Diamond Head Concourse in 1970, the Ewa Concourse in 1972 and the Central Concourse in 1980.
With the advent of ultra-long range aircraft, most transpacific flights no longer need to stop at Honolulu. As such, the airport has seen a notable decrease in international passenger traffic over the years, particularly to Australia, the South Pacific and southeast Asia. However, Honolulu has continued to see major growth in the domestic market as major airlines have added frequent and even non-stop links to large, previously unserved markets such as Phoenix, Newark, Denver and Atlanta.
Read more about this topic: Honolulu International Airport
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