HILO GENERAL LYMAN FIELD



An aerial view of the Hilo terminal area in the early 1970s, showing the separate interisland (foreground) and overseas (rear) terminals, with the control tower in between the two.

Ground was broken for a new 'modern' terminal at Hilo's General Lyman Field in July 1952. At the time, ITO was a small airfield serving the island of Hawaii's largest city. Airport officials wanted a terminal that could meet the city's aviation needs - mostly interisland shuttles to Honolulu and Maui.

The building was formally opened on December 5, 1953. It was essentially a one-level rectangular structure with arrival and departure facilities under one roof. It also included a control tower and restaurant/coffee shop. Passengers waited in a central departure lounge, then walked onto the apron to board their aircraft. The tarmac area could hold four interisland aircraft at a time.


The ITO terminal as it looked in the early 1960s.

Hilo's terminal was well-suited to the airport's needs for several years. In 1963, however, the State of Hawaii designated Hilo as the islands' second overseas gateway. The intention was to relieve the overcrowded conditions at Honolulu International Airport on Oahu. On March 6, 1965, an all-new 8500-foot jet runway was dedicated to handle the new Mainland flights.


A small view of Hilo's brand-new jet runway in 1965. The terminal complex is at top left.

Direct overseas flights to Hilo began October 1, 1967: United with DC8 service to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Pan Am with 707 flights to Portland and San Francisco. Their operations were located in the existing terminal building, alongside Hawaiian and Aloha (the departure lounge and aircraft apron were extended to accommodate extra jets.)

On July 4, 1969, an "interim" overseas terminal was completed southwest of the 1953 structure. The four-gate facility would handle Mainland flights into a new terminal complex could be built in the 1970s. It was designed in a similar fashion to the existing building - long and low, with all services under one roof. Airport officials intended to convert to a cargo center when the new complex was completed.

The building was dedicated just in time - in late summer 1969, three more overseas carriers began Hilo service: Continental, Northwest Orient and Western. Braniff also received Hilo authority, but never began service. By the early 1970s Hilo had nonstop daily flights to six mainland cities, including a flight to Chicago.

United and Pan Am began 747 jumbo jet flights to ITO in 1971. Because of the size of the aircraft, however, those flights parked at the interisland terminal and passengers had to walk to the overseas building to claim their luggage.


The layout of the Hilo terminals in 1971. From a United Air Lines services guide


A diagram of the ITO terminal area circa 1973, showing the two terminals. This diagram appeared in the Environmental Impact Study for ITO's new terminal complex. Although originally scheduled to open during 1972-1973, environmental roadblocks and debate about Hilo's future as a tourism center delayed its opening to 1976.

The airlines found their Hilo stopovers - required by the Civil Aeronautics Board to ensure the 'second gateway' status - to be inconvenient and unpopular. Pan Am suspended ITO service in 1972, even as the other overseas operators were upgrading to DC10s and 747s.

During the early 1970s debate raged over whether ITO should receive a new terminal or whether overseas flights should be shifted to the brand-new Keahole Airport across the island. In 1973 the FAA put its foot down - the terminal buildings at ITO were too close to the existing runway (when jumbo jet aircraft were parked at the overseas terminal, their tails were only a few hundred feet from Runway 3-21.) Construction on a new complex for interisland and Mainland flights began in 1975.

The new building was completed April 30, 1976 - a huge new building with eight jetbridges, six baggage claim carousels and two large ticket lobbies. After Deregulation in 1978, however, most of the overseas airlines pulled out of Hilo; United was the last to leave in 1986. As a result, Hilo now has an oversized terminal building.




A photo of the old ITO terminal site taken from a departing aircraft at an undetermined date. The former interisland terminal has been demolished, although the old overseas building is still standing. Look at the size of that apron - hard to believe they used to fit 747s on it! The new terminal area is to the left, just out of the picture.


Views of the former Hilo tower and terminal taken in spring 2004. The old interisland building is gone (it would be in the foreground of the first picture) and the former overseas terminal has been gutted. The site does not appear to be used for anything, although the buildings have clearly been relieved of their roles as passenger facilities.
Photos by James Young

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