Big Island Sees Big Drop in Private Jet Arrivals

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We’ve become accustomed to reading reports that visitor arrivals and hotel occupancy are trending downward in Hawaii. Now we hear that private jet traffic is sinking to double-digit drops. In December, 138 private jets landed at Kona International Airport on Hawaii’s Big Island. This represents a decline of 18 percent from the same time last year.

Earlier this week things looked a little brighter, with 51 private planes on the airport’s apron (Kona International Airport has room for up to 61 private planes at a time). There are currently two main fixed-base operators at Kona providing private jet service— Air Service Hawaii and Bradley Pacific Aviation. Services provided by both companies run the gamut from the traditional lei greeting to limousine service and VIP treatment.