1990s
 Kona’s population, economy and visitors continued to grow steadily into the 1990s.  The real estate market, the emergence of bed and breakfasts’ and the Kona Marathon all played a role in the increased traffic coming into the region.
Renovations continued at the airport throughout the 1990’s pursuant to the Master Plan Update of 1987:

  • ·Additional office space was added to increase efficiency
  • ·Tenant space grew
  • ·The baggage claim area welcomed its first mechanical baggage
    equipment device
  • ·Spaces were added to the parking lot
  • ·And Runway 17-35 received another extension that made it the longest
    neighbor island runway.

The Keahole Airport was renamed the Keahole-Kona International Airport in 1993 and the Airports Council International ranked it 173rd out of 461 airports worldwide for total passenger volume, with 1,882,286 passengers boarding and deplaning that year. In two decades passenger volume had tripled.
International service thrived in the 1990s, as Keahole-Kona International welcomed direct service to and from Canada and Japan.  In 1997, Keahole-Kona International became Kona International Airport at Keahole.  The Hawaii Department of Transportation recognized that domestic and foreign arrivals had hit an all-time high and requested $33 million from the Legislature to begin further expansion of the airport to keep up with the present and future growth in air traffic.