Honolulu Airport: Terminals, Lounges and Food

The airport sits at 300 Rodgers Boulevard, about 10 miles west of Waikiki. Its official name since 2017 is Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, for the senator who represented Hawaii in Congress for 53 years, and its code is still HNL. It is the state’s busiest airport, with more than 21 million passengers a year, and it shares its runways with Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam next door.

There are three terminals. Terminals 1 and 2 are connected on foot (about a 10 to 15 minute walk) and by the free Wiki Wiki shuttle. Terminal 3 is a small commuter terminal about 0.6 miles east. Check-in counters are on the second level of Terminals 1 and 2, and baggage claim is on the ground level of all three.

For the ride into town, our Honolulu airport to Waikiki guide compares the bus, shuttles, taxis, Uber and rental cars.

HNL runs in a long line from west (Ewa) to east (Diamond Head). Terminal 1 sits at the west end with the A and B gates. Terminal 2 runs east from it, with ticket Lobbies 4 through 8 on one level and five gate areas behind them: the curved C pier, small D and F pods, the E pier through the gardens, and the long G pier at the Diamond Head end. The garages, the Skyline rail station and the rental car center sit across the roadway.

The map below is our simplified sketch, not to scale. For gate-by-gate detail, use the airport’s interactive airport map.

Before you land, Hawaii requires an agriculture declaration for every flight from the continental U.S. You can fill it in on Akamai Arrival up to five days before you fly, or on the paper form if your flight attendants hand one out. One adult can cover the whole family. Anything agricultural you declare goes to the inspection counter near the baggage claim exits, and an amnesty bin at the bottom of the escalators takes items you would rather drop.

Arrivals come off the plane on the second level (except at Gates G7 to G10 and Terminal 3, which board and deplane at ground level), then head down to baggage claim. Free visitor information counters are staffed from 5 AM to 10:45 PM at several claim areas, and baggage carts are free inside the International Arrivals Building.

The lei stands, where lei makers have sold fresh garlands since the 1940s, are on the left side of the airport entry road before Terminal 1. They are generally open from 6 AM to 10 PM. Plumeria, orchid, carnation and pikake are the most popular. If someone is meeting you with a lei, the greeting happens in baggage claim.

Connecting to another island? If your bag tag reads HNL, collect your bags at claim and carry them to your interisland check-in.

HNL is a U.S. port of entry. International flights are processed in the International Arrivals Building, on the ground level of Terminal 2 at its Terminal 1 end. Customs uses facial comparison at the passport booth, and Mobile Passport Control and Global Entry both work at HNL. The Global Entry enrollment center here is open 6 AM to 2:45 PM daily, closed federal holidays.

You exit onto Rodgers Boulevard next to baggage claims 16 and 17, with a visitor information counter outside the door and the International Parking Garage directly across the road. The rental car shuttle for international arrivals leaves from the median across from Baggage Claim 18.

The airport asks you to arrive at least two hours before a mainland or international flight and 90 minutes before an interisland flight, and 30 minutes more if you are parking or returning a rental car. Since October 3, 2026, Hawaiian’s interisland passengers must check in and drop bags 50 minutes before departure (it used to be 30), and Hawaiian’s international check-in is at Terminal 2, Lobby 4.

The mainland agriculture check. Every bag headed to the mainland, checked and carry-on, goes through a USDA inspection before you leave Hawaii. At HNL the inspection stations stand in front of the airline check-in counters and usually open when check-in does, so go there first. Most fresh fruit and plants cannot leave, including berries, fresh coffee cherries and anything in soil. Pineapple, coconut, roasted or green coffee beans, commercially packaged food, and most lei and cut flowers pass after inspection. Check USDA’s Hawaii list before you pack.

Security. Checkpoints sit in the ticket lobbies. The two all-day ones are Checkpoint 1B in Terminal 1 and Checkpoint 3 in Terminal 2, both 4:15 AM to 11:30 PM. Checkpoint 5 (Lobbies 7 to 8) runs 5:15 AM to 9 PM, and Checkpoints 1A, 2 and 4 open part time. TSA PreCheck has dedicated lanes at 1B, 3 and 5. CLEAR runs at Checkpoint 1B (5 AM to 8 PM) and Checkpoint 3 (5:30 AM to 8 PM).

Neither TSA nor the airport publishes live security waits for HNL. What you can check is the airport’s checkpoint hours page, which shows when each checkpoint and PreCheck lane is open, and TSA’s MyTSA app, which estimates how busy the airport is likely to be at your day and time from past data.

Checkpoints 2 and 4 add lanes from 9:15 AM to 1 PM, and Checkpoint 4 opens again from 6:15 to 8:30 PM. If your flight falls in one of those windows, give yourself the full two hours, and use a checkpoint with a PreCheck lane if you have it.

HNL has a lounge in almost every corner, but only two take Priority Pass: Hawaiian’s Premier Club in Terminal 1 and the IASS Hawaii Lounge in Terminal 2’s Garden Court, which serves drinks but no food. Amex Platinum cardholders can use those two (after enrolling in Priority Pass through the card) plus the Delta Sky Club. There is no Centurion Lounge at HNL. The Ko Olina Traveler’s Lounge still appears on airport listings, but it has closed for good.

Hours below come from each lounge’s operator or lounge network. Where we could not confirm them, the table says so.

The airport says restaurant hours follow the flight schedule, so expect most places to open early and close after the last departures from their area. Most restaurants sit past security in the gate areas, so eat after you clear the checkpoint.

Terminal 1 (A and B gates). Stinger Ray’s Tropical Bar and Grill, Lahaina Chicken Company, Burger King and Panda Express cluster near Gates A17 and A18. The Little Fish Poke and Island Brews with Pizza Torn Basil are near A16, Mauka Market is at the newer south end, and there are two Kona Brewing Co. bars and two Starbucks.

Terminal 2. The Local @HNL, on the second level of the main terminal, sources from Hawaii farms and suppliers, with California Pizza Kitchen and a food court nearby. At the E gates you will find PGA Tour Grill, Lahaina Chicken Company, Kona Brewing Co. and Starbucks. The C gates have Sammy’s Beach Bar and Grill, and the F and G end has the Diamond Head Bar, Island Brews and more coffee. Waiting for someone at baggage claim? Royal Kona Coffee is on the ground level of Terminal 2.

Shopping. For gifts made or grown here, look for Hawaii Market (packaged Hawaiian foods), Maui Divers Jewelry, and local brands in the Central Concourse such as Mana Up, Tori Richard and Reyn Spooner. DFS’s duty free stores include From Hawaii With Love.

HNL has three gardens in the middle of Terminal 2, and they are easy to miss. Landscape architect Richard C. Tongg designed the Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiian Gardens in 1962, when the terminal opened, and pathways, bridges and stepping stones link them. The waterways that run between the ponds stand for the cultures mixing in Hawaii.

• Chinese Garden. A red pavilion with a yellow glazed-tile roof made by Hong Kong craftsmen, an arched bridge, koi, and a statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen donated by Hawaii’s Chinese community in 1965.
• Japanese Garden. A zigzag bridge (built to keep away evil) leading to a shingle-roofed shelter, carp ponds, sculpted pines, and stone lanterns lit at dusk. Its pagoda marks the centennial of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii.
• Hawaiian Garden. Koi lagoons, waterfalls over lava walls, and plants like hala, kukui, ti, ginger and bird of paradise. Luau torches light it at night.

How to get there: the gardens are on the ground level of Terminal 2 around the E gates and the Garden Court lounge area. From the Central Concourse, follow the signs for Airline Lounges and the Cultural Garden, then take the stairs or elevator down. Terminal 1 has its own small garden, the C. B. Lansing Garden, on the ground level near the walkway to Terminal 2. It honors Aloha Airlines flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, who died in the line of duty in 1988. See the airport’s garden page for more.

HNL has three garages: the Terminal 1 garage, the International garage across from the International Arrivals Building, and the Terminal 2 garage across from Lobbies 5 to 7. All three charge the same rates and stay open 24 hours, with a 30-day limit. The first 15 minutes are free; after 8 hours you pay the $29 daily maximum, which rises to $30 on July 1, 2027. There is no separate economy lot. Twenty EV chargers sit on the ground level of the International garage. For pickups, two free cell phone lots allow up to 60 minutes, with the driver in the car. Rates are on the airport’s parking page.

The rental car center is on the airport, across the road from Terminal 2. Ten companies share it: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless, Sixt and Thrifty, with counters on Level 2. From Baggage Claims 19 to 31 you can walk over. From Terminal 1 and International Arrivals, the rental car shuttle runs from 4 AM to midnight.

Before you book, read whether you need a car on Oahu at all, and check what your hotel charges to park in our Waikiki parking guide.

Three airlines fly between HNL and the neighbor islands, from three different places:

• Hawaiian Airlines checks in at Terminal 1, Lobby 3, and flies about 140 interisland flights a day. Its flights now carry Alaska’s AS flight numbers, since the two airlines merged their booking systems in April 2026. Bags must be dropped 50 minutes before departure.
• Southwest checks in interisland passengers at Terminal 2, Lobby 6, and flies to Maui, Kona, Hilo and Kauai.
• Mokulele Airlines flies small planes from Terminal 3, including to Molokai and Lanai. Its terminal has its own lot, paid before check-in.

Flights are short: scheduled times from HNL run about 40 to 45 minutes to Kahului or Lihue and 48 to 55 minutes to Kona or Hilo. Leave 90 minutes at the airport all the same. Choosing a second island? See which Hawaiian island to visit.

A few things about HNL worth knowing while you wait for boarding:

Wi-Fi is free throughout Terminals 1 and 2 (ad-supported, with a paid Boingo upgrade). There are no showers or nap rooms, and the airport points long-layover passengers to hotels just off the property. If you want to leave the airport, staffed bag storage by SmarteCarte keeps your luggage while you go.

Skyline rail stops at the airport’s Lelepaua station between the International and Terminal 2 garages, but the line ends two stations later and does not reach Waikiki, which is about 25 minutes away by car. On a short layover, stay inside: see the gardens and the art along the open-air walkway to the E gates, and eat. If an early flight means a night near the airport, our where to stay on Oahu guide covers the island’s areas.

Other useful spots: a medical clinic on the ground floor of Terminal 2 next to the Japanese Garden, lactation pods near Gate A15 and in Terminal 2, and pet relief areas inside security in the Lansing and Hawaiian gardens.

• Do the ag check first. Mainland-bound bags go through USDA inspection before check-in, so walk to the station in front of your airline’s counter before joining the line.
• Pack snacks for the IASS lounge. It is the Priority Pass option in Terminal 2, and it serves drinks but no food.
• Find the gardens. Follow the Airline Lounges and Cultural Garden signs near the E gates and take the stairs down.
• Leave the fresh fruit. Pineapple, roasted or green coffee beans and packaged snacks pass the mainland check; most other fresh produce does not.