Okay, well not quite. But it's a start:


International passengers at Honolulu's airport will soon have an air-conditioned moving walkway to whisk them between the main terminal and their gates, officials said Friday.

The long-planned "people mover" system at the airport will be included in a $10 million project to improve the arrival experience of thousands of passengers from Japan and other places who end their lengthy flight with a long walk or hot, noisy bus ride to get from their plane to the immigration and customs area, officials said.

"It will give them a much different first impression of Hawai'i," said Marsha Weinert, the state's tourism liaison.

The state Transportation Department last week sought bidders for the project, which calls for building an enclosed, air-conditioned corridor over the existing elevated roadway and adjacent walkway that leads to the gates of the 'ewa concourse, said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

When complete, the moving walkway will extend the length of the concourse and link it to the overseas and interisland terminals.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070204/NEWS09/702040367

So it seems the major airport renovation plans are finally starting to go through. ^

For anyone that has arrived on an international flight into HNL, they should be jumping up and down with excitement when they hear this decision. Nothing is more frustrating than arriving after a several hour flight and then be shuttled to the customs area on the stupid (yes, Hawaii, the Wiki Wiki bus is stupid) Wiki Wiki bus. The only time I got to walk to Customs is when my Continental flight landed at a gate that was close enough to the Customs area. I hope this project won't take too long.

Interesting.

The 'Wiki' in Wikipedia and other such online services was named for that shuttle service.

I hope this project won't take too long.
It being Hawaii, the construction project will take much longer than anticipated. ;)

I'm shocked at that opinion, slippahs, just shocked :D


We are trying to build a simple garage building on our church's property. Four walls, a roof, some flourescent lights, and some electrical outlets. So far the county has wanted four changes to the plans, two re-submits by architects, and two sign-offs by electrical engineers. I love Hawaii, but..... End of off-topic rant.

Interesting.

The 'Wiki' in Wikipedia and other such online services was named for that shuttle service.

Actually, I believe that "wikiwiki" is the Hawaiian word for "fast," so both the buses and the online information service took their names from the same word.

The 'Wiki' in Wikipedia and other such online services was named for that shuttle service.
Uh, no, actually, wikipedia was named from the Hawain word wikiwiki (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wiki)for quick plus the Greek suffix pedia (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-pedia).

What's interesting is that the people movers will only be installed on the 3rd floor of the 'Ewa Terminal. Meaning that UA/NW Int'l Arrivals will be stuck with the buses for more time after this.

I thought HNL was going to redo the Ewa terminal first...? Whatever happened to that idea?

What's interesting is that the people movers will only be installed on the 3rd floor of the 'Ewa Terminal. Meaning that UA/NW Int'l Arrivals will be stuck with the buses for more time after this.

I thought HNL was going to redo the Ewa terminal first...? Whatever happened to that idea?



At least it seemed they were replacing super old wikiwiki bus with some new ones a while ago. Last time when I was arriving into HNL on UA, the 3rd floor curbside was being renovated. Therefore wikiwiki had go down to tarmac and take us to immigration. It took quite long. BTW, they really should change the bus name. It's not wikiwiki meaning super fast at all. What's super slow in Hawaiian language? I'm curious if Honolulu is planning to tear down all those old terminals and build new ones.

At least it seemed they were replacing super old wikiwiki bus with some new ones a while ago. Last time when I was arriving into HNL on UA, the 3rd floor curbside was being renovated. Therefore wikiwiki had go down to tarmac and take us to immigration. It took quite long. BTW, they really should change the bus name. It's not wikiwiki meaning super fast at all. What's super slow in Hawaiian language? I'm curious if Honolulu is planning to tear down all those old terminals and build new ones.
Here you go:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=600337&highlight=airport+renovation

For anyone that has arrived on an international flight into HNL, they should be jumping up and down with excitement when they hear this decision. Nothing is more frustrating than arriving after a several hour flight and then be shuttled to the customs area on the stupid (yes, Hawaii, the Wiki Wiki bus is stupid) Wiki Wiki bus.

I'm lucky, I just have to go across an empty gate area, down steps, a little outside then back up the escalator to Immigration then down to CBP. It's a little maze and unorganized as all get out so any improvements are a welcome addition. And we land at 2 am when there's no airline traffic or such and have our pick of gates I'd assume, so if I have to go through this little maze then I can just picture what others have to go through.

Uh, no, actually, wikipedia was named from the Hawain word wikiwiki (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wiki)for quick plus the Greek suffix pedia (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-pedia).

"wiki wiki" always had another meaning for me and my husband--particularly in the afternoon;)

I live in Japan and usually fly NWA. It's always a great re-introduction to American culture when I get herded onto one of those Wiki Wiki buses. The drivers scare you half to death when they warn you that "THIS BUS WILL NOT MOVE UNTIL YOU GET BEHIND THE LINE!" The first time to the islands Japanese folks around me have no idea what the driver said, because their English is not so great and we don't usually have silly lines to stand behind. (Well, actually we do, but nobody pays any attention to them in Osaka where I come from.) But, they know that the driver is ANGRY, so they just move away from the front of the bus and end up behind the line. Finally, the bus jerks away and lands in front of the escalator a couple of minutes later. Then, at immigration there's always some person YELLING at the non-US citizens to go to the left for processing. Great way to start the day.:rolleyes:

Nishimark, I had the same experiences when I have flown in from NRT or KIX. Angry WikiWiki drivers yelling at everyone to get on the bus but stay behind the line. I don't think of the 15-20 overseas trips I have taken and returned have I met a nice WikiWiki driver. Talk about a bad first impression for our Hawaii visitors. That is why I enjoyed when I arrived from GUM and got to walk to Customs.

Interesting.

The 'Wiki' in Wikipedia and other such online services was named for that shuttle service.

Actually, I believe that "wikiwiki" is the Hawaiian word for "fast," so both the buses and the online information service took their names from the same word.

Uh, no, actually, wikipedia was named from the Hawain word wikiwiki (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wiki)for quick plus the Greek suffix pedia (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-pedia).

Beg to differ;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

"Ward Cunningham started developing WikiWikiWeb in 1994 and installed it on Internet domain c2.com on March 25, 1995. It was named by Cunningham, who remembered a Honolulu International Airport counter employee telling him to take the so-called "Wiki Wiki" Chance RT-52 shuttle bus line that runs between the airport's terminals."

"Wiki" in Hawaiian means "quick". In Hawaiian, doubling a word makes it a superlative. The inter-concourse shuttle was called the "wiki wiki" bus, intimating that it was quick and efficient. As we locals know, this was totally ironic, as the shuttles were neither of these.

Hapa Wiki? ;)

Beg to differ;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

"Ward Cunningham started developing WikiWikiWeb in 1994 and installed it on Internet domain c2.com on March 25, 1995. It was named by Cunningham, who remembered a Honolulu International Airport counter employee telling him to take the so-called "Wiki Wiki" Chance RT-52 shuttle bus line that runs between the airport's terminals."

Yes, but it's just a matter of time before someone on Wikipedia corrects that.