Kona to Honolulu

What the Data Says About KOA to HNL

The Kona to Honolulu corridor (KOA → HNL) covers roughly 163 miles and is served by 2 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 41,340 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 52.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 15,538 flights were recorded on this pairing — 154 cancelled (1.0%) and 3 diverted (0.0%). 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 41,340 total flights analyzed, the 86.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 52.6-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 95% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 75% on-time — a 20-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the KOA to HNL route, the combination of a 86.9% on-time rate, 52.6-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 2 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.