Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
Facts on HNL
The airport opened on March 21, 1927, as John Rodgers Airport, named for a World War I naval aviator; it became Honolulu Airport in 1947, gained 'International' in 1951, and wasn't renamed for Daniel Inouye until 2017 — three names across nine decades.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport is named for Daniel Inouye, born and raised in Honolulu, who was an Army lieutenant fighting in Italy in 1945 when a German rifle grenade shattered his right arm; he pried the live grenade from his own severed hand and killed the gunner before continuing the assault. He later represented Hawaii in the U.S. Senate from 1963 until his death in 2012.
Source: Wikipedia
Hawaii's legislature passed a resolution in 2016 asking the U.S. Department of Transportation to rename Honolulu International Airport for the late senator and Medal of Honor recipient; the new name appeared in FAA documentation on April 27, 2017, and was made official in an airport ceremony on May 30, 2017.
Source: Wikipedia
By 1950, Honolulu was already the third-busiest airport in the United States by aircraft operations, and in 1953 its 13,097-foot runway was the longest in the world.
Source: Wikipedia
Completed in 1977, Honolulu's Reef Runway was the world's first major runway built entirely offshore; it was once a designated alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle.
Source: Wikipedia
Architect Vladimir Ossipoff led a terminal modernization beginning in 1970 that remodeled the John Rodgers Terminal and added new concourses over the following decade, including Diamond Head (1970), Ewa (1972), and Central (1980).
Source: Wikipedia
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport covers 4,220 acres — more than 1% of the entire island of Oahu — making it one of the largest airports by land area in the state.
Source: Wikipedia
The airport's three terminals hold 60 gates in total; walking from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 requires passing through a USDA agricultural inspection station for carry-on luggage, even for passengers who never left the terminal building.
Source: Wikipedia