LIHUE AIRPORT


A very grainy postcard showing passengers deplaning a Hawaiian Air DC9 at the old LIH sometime in the 1970s.

Lihue Airport was officially opened January 8, 1950, replacing the older airport at Barking Sands as the island of Kauai's main civilian airfield. Lihue had been the site of an airport since the 1930s; after World War II, however, it was closed for refurbishment. Prior to that, civilian flights to Oahu had used Barking Sands or the grass landing strip at Port Allen.

The new facility boasted a 5,000-foot paved runway, aligned 3-21 - ample length for Hawaiian and Trans-Pacific's DC3 aircraft. A very rudimentary air cargo building was also included in the design.

For the terminal building, officials chose a very simple one-level design that was sized appropriately to Kauai's aviation needs. The building included ticket counters, a coffee shop, and a single departure lounge fronting the apron area. The ticketing area was left open on the side facing the parking lot, as air conditioning was not common at the time. Passengers claimed their luggage directly outside the aircraft, off of movable luggage carts.


The Lihue terminal in the early 1970s.

The building served Kauai well for the next 20 years. A control tower was opened alongside the facility in December 1970 and a permanent baggage claim area on the west side of the building (with a shelf system for claiming bags) was added in 1962, but otherwise the building remained in its 1950s configuration.


Looking southwest at the Lihue terminal building in the 1970s. The portion of the building with a black roof is the original facility housing ticketing, concessions and the departure lounge. The white-roofed structure at the far end of the complex is the newer baggage claim area. Car rentals and ground transportation are in the brown-roofed building across the street.


A landside view of LIH in the late 1970s. Note how small the terminal building was - the aircraft are very clearly larger than the building!

In April 1984, a new 6,500-foot arrival runway was dedicated. The new runway meant that arriving aircraft no longer had to make low turns on final approach to avoid the Hoary Head Ridge (visible in the background of the photo above.) Almost immediately after the new runway was opened, United Airlines began DC8 service to San Francisco and Los Angeles (via Honolulu). United's flights parked at the eastern side of the terminal (in the foreground of the above photo).


A United DC8 parked at Lihue's overseas gate in 1984. The control tower, built in 1970, is also visible, as is the fire station and very small air cargo building (with white roof.) Photo from the 1984 United Airlines annual report.

A second baggage claim area was added to the east side of the terminal to handle United's flights. It also housed Department of Agriculture inspection facilities for overseas flights. During busy periods, some Aloha and Hawaiian passengers claimed bags here as well.


Lihue's terminal as it looked in its final configuration in the mid-1980s. It could accommodate six aircraft at one time (five stands are visible in this photo; a sixth was located to the left.) Again, the original building with its darker roof is visible. The United baggage claim area juts out at an angle from the right side of the building.

Shortly after the new runway opened, ground was broken for a new terminal building to serve Lihue. The existing terminal was becoming crowded during peak periods; more importantly, though, it was beginning to look shabby. Officials wanted a newer, larger building with jetway loading bridges and expansion capability if the need arose. The building was situated southwest of the existing facility (in the background of the first aerial photo.)

The new building, dubbed the Richard A. Kawakami Terminal, was opened to passengers April 26, 1987. The old terminal was left standing for several years and was used as an interim cargo and general aviation facility. It was finally demolished in 1990 to make room for a permanent modern cargo building. Today there is no trace of the old building, aside from a section of apron (where the United DC8s used to park) and the control tower (which continues in operation.)


A south-facing view of the old Lihue terminal site in 1999. The new cargo building and a tourist heliport
now occupy the site. The arrival runway built in 1984 is visible in the background.


An aerial view of Lihue Airport from 1998. The new Kawakami Terminal is at the top of the photo. The former terminal was on the site of the cargo building at center.

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