HONOLULU — The Hawaii Department of Transportation announced on Monday that monthly parking for non-airport employees will be discontinued at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole as of June 1, according to a news release.
The change will largely affect air travelers who regularly travel each month and purchase monthly parking passes for the Kona airport.
The reason is because of increased demand for daily parking and the limited availability of spaces. According to HDOT, KOA has 1,706 parking stalls, which includes 300 to 400 spaces for airport employees. Discontinuing monthly parking for non-airport employees will open up stalls for daily use by the community.
The funds generated by daily parking fees once the monthly parking is eliminated will allow HDOT to improve Keahole Airport – adding electronic signs with parking availability, setting up preregister reservation systems and increasing the number of stalls in commercial and employee lots.
According to HDOT, these improvements will allow them to meet parking demand.
Airports in Hilo, Kahului, Lihue and Honolulu stopped selling monthly parking to the public in 2017. KOA is the last of the major airports to discontinue monthly parking.