Lihue, HI

What the Data Says About LIH

Lihue, HI in Lihue, Hawaii handled 162,570 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 86.7% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 21,670 experienced delays, 1,268 were cancelled, and 95 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 0.78%, the diversion rate to 0.06%, and the average delay when departures run late is 59.9 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing LIH against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at LIH, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 51.6% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 34.7% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 10.7%. Weather contributes 2.6% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.5%. 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 LIH with a 95.8% on-time rate, while December is the roughest at 92.1% — a 4-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in July, when average flights hit 2,467. The busiest route from LIH is to LIH (Lihue), with 42,503 flights at a 87.2% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 86.7% on-time, 59.9-minute average delay, 0.78% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Lihue, HI.