Honolulu to Lihue

What the Data Says About HNL to LIH

The Honolulu to Lihue corridor (HNL → LIH) covers roughly 102 miles and is served by 2 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 42,503 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 87.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 52.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 16,720 flights were recorded on this pairing — 176 cancelled (1.1%) and 10 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 2 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 42,503 total flights analyzed, the 87.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 52.1-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Sep 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 77% on-time — a 17-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the HNL to LIH route, the combination of a 87.2% on-time rate, 52.1-minute average delay, 1.1% recent cancellation rate, and 2 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.