Connecting at Honolulu: three terminals, and the shuttle between them

Last checked 30 September 2026

A connection is when your trip has two flights and you change planes in between. Honolulu has three terminals: Terminal 1 (where the airport lists Hawaiian's check-in), Terminal 2 (Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest, United and most international airlines) and Terminal 3 (Mokulele). A free shuttle bus, trams and carts join Terminals 1 and 2, and the airport says the walk is 10 to 15 minutes.

Two words used below. Security (also called TSA screening) is the checkpoint where your bags go through a scanner and you walk through a body scanner. Once you're through it, you're in the secure area, the part of the airport with the gates. If you leave the secure area you have to go through security again to get back in.

At a glance

• Three terminals. Terminal 1 is where the airport lists Hawaiian's check-in. Terminal 2 has most mainland and international airlines (Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest, United and airlines from Asia, Oceania and Canada). Terminal 3 is Mokulele, a small island airline.
• Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 (and back): the airport runs a free shuttle bus, open-air trams and courtesy carts on the third level, or you can walk. The airport says the walk is 10 to 15 minutes. The route the airport describes suggests you stay inside security. The airport doesn't say so in words, so check with your airline if your connection is tight.
• Terminal 3: you get there by a bus on the public road outside, so you would leave security; check with your airline if the connection is tight.
• Bags: most airlines check your bags through to your final stop, so you don't collect them. If your ticket ends in Honolulu, you do collect them.
• Landing from another country: a typical passport-control wait over the last year was about 18 minutes, and one passenger in ten waited about 49 minutes or more.

Which terminal is my airline in?

This comes from the airport's own list, checked 30 September 2026. Look up both airlines.

• Terminal 1: Hawaiian's check-in.
• Terminal 2: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Air Premia, Alaska, American, ANA, Asiana, Delta, Fiji Airways, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Philippine Airlines, Qantas, Southwest, United, WestJet and ZIPAIR.
• Terminal 3: Mokulele.

Airlines do move. A flight run for one of these airlines by a smaller partner airline can be somewhere else. Your boarding pass or your airline's app is the final word.

Where the gates are

The airport's floor plan (updated 1 April 2022) puts these gates in each terminal:

• Terminal 1: the A gates (A1 to A20) and the B gates (B1 to B5).
• Terminal 2: the C gates (C1 to C9), D gates (D1 and D2), E gates (E1 to E10), F gates (F1 and F2) and G gates (G1 to G10).
• Terminal 3: one gate, H1.

The airport doesn't say which gates Alaska, American, Delta or United use.

Changing between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2

There are four ways, all free:

• The Wiki Wiki bus runs between the terminals from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. every day, about every 20 minutes according to the airport's FAQ.
• Open-air electric trams run between the terminals from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.
• Electric courtesy carts run inside each terminal: at Terminal 1 between the A and B gates, and at Terminal 2 between the C, E and G gates, from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
• Walking. The airport says it's a 10 to 15 minute walk from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1.

The airport's own route for a passenger at Terminal 1 whose next flight leaves from Terminal 2 is to catch the bus, tram or cart on the third level of Terminal 1 for a ride to the C or G gates. From the C and G gates, buses, trams and carts run to Terminal 1 or Terminal 2. The way the airport describes this route suggests you stay in the secure area. It doesn't use the words "without going through security again". Ask your airline if your connection is tight.

Terminal 3 (Mokulele)

Terminal 3 has one gate. A separate Wiki Wiki bus runs on the ground level of the public road in front of the terminals, from 3 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. every day, between Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and the Skyline train station. Because it runs on the public road, you would leave security for a change to or from Terminal 3; check with your airline if the connection is tight.

Your bags on a connection

The airport says most airlines will check your bags through to your final stop, and that you should ask for them to be tagged to your final destination when you start your trip. If the bag tag says Honolulu, your bags stop there and you collect them at baggage claim, on the ground level of the terminal, and take them with you to your next flight.

Landing from another country

Passport control is the desk where an officer from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checks your passport. The airport's own pages don't say where it is; they say only that the airport is a designated port of entry.

How long passport control takes. Over the year to 23 September 2026, about 1.7 million passengers came through. Half of them waited 18 minutes or less. One in ten waited about 49 minutes or longer, and about 5 in 100 waited over an hour. CBP says its times don't include collecting your bags or finding your way around the airport.

The steps, in order:

1. Everyone arriving from another country, including US citizens: go through passport control.
2. Everyone: collect your checked bags and take them through Customs. CBP says you must collect them and bring them through.
3. Passengers connecting to another flight: check your bags in again with your airline for your next flight. We couldn't find where the drop-off is, so follow the signs for connecting flights or ask staff.
4. Passengers connecting to another flight: go through security again.
5. Passengers whose next flight is in the other main terminal (Terminal 1 or Terminal 2): use the free bus, tram, cart or walk described under "Changing between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2". Passengers whose next flight is Mokulele in Terminal 3: take the bus on the public road, so you would leave security; check with your airline if the connection is tight.

Going through security again after an international arrival is the normal routine at US airports. A trial scheme lets some passengers skip it. TSA's announcement of it names two flights, both from London, to Atlanta and Dallas. Honolulu is not one of them. On a few routes, eligible connecting passengers don't collect and recheck their bags, but still go through security again. Check with your airline.

If your flights are on separate tickets

If you booked two flights separately, you collect your bags, check in again with the second airline, and go through security again. Add the time to collect your bags, check in again and go through security.

Tips

• Look up both of your airlines on the list above before you travel.
• Hawaiian checks in at Terminal 1; check your boarding pass for the terminal of your gate. If your other flight is in Terminal 2, allow up to 15 minutes for the walk, or take the free bus.
• If you're changing to Mokulele in Terminal 3, remember you'll leave security.
• When you book, ask for your bags to be tagged all the way to your final stop.

GateCast grades your connection from A to F on how likely you are to make it. The grade is an estimate. GateCast knows which airlines you're flying but has no gate information, so at an airport with several terminals like this one, check your boarding pass and add time for any second security check.

Checked 30 September 2026. Terminals, gates and airlines change, so confirm with the airport and your airline before you travel.