Kona, HI

What the Data Says About KOA

Kona, HI in Kona, Hawaii handled 177,017 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 86.3% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 24,282 experienced delays, 1,232 were cancelled, and 118 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 0.70%, the diversion rate to 0.07%, and the average delay when departures run late is 61.7 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing KOA against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at KOA, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 48.3% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 38.7% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 10.8%. Weather contributes 2.1% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.3%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, September runs the cleanest at KOA with a 96.2% on-time rate, while December is the roughest at 91.5% — a 5-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in March, when average flights hit 2,665. The busiest route from KOA is to HNL (Honolulu), with 41,340 flights at a 86.9% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 86.3% on-time, 61.7-minute average delay, 0.70% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Kona, HI.