FEA Filed for Kahului Airport Consolidated Rental Car Facility

The base yard of the existing car rental company operations at the Kahului airport. Photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The state Department of Transportation filed a Final Environmental Assessment for the proposed Consolidated Rental Car Facility in Kahului.

The facility, now referred to as the ConRAC, is proposed for location on 17 acres of land at the Kahului Airport.  Under the FEA, there are five locations identified as possible alternative sites.

The proposed facility is designed to address the need for adequate on-site facilities for rental car companies, reduce traffic congestion on the terminal roadway system, and enhance the overall customer experience.

The proposal calls for a Customer Service Building where all rental care company counters and administrative offices would be located.

The ConRAC facility would also feature a structure for rental car pickup and return.  According to the FEA, the structure would include levels for staging and storage, rental pickup and return, and airport and car rental employee parking.

According to the FEA, the ConRAC facility would include an estimated 4,200 parking stalls for rental car use, as well as “a quick turnaround area, office, customer service area, and fueling and car wash areas for the various rental car operators.”

Kahului Airport, file photo by Wendy Osher.

An earlier Draft Environmental Assessment document noted an anticipated increase in numbers of enplaned passengers and rental car transactions.

According to the document, an additional 350,000 square feet or 8 acres, are projected to be needed to accommodate rental car facilities at Kahului Airport by 2020, compared with conditions that existed in 2011.

The report further stated that an additional 550,000 square feet or 12.5 acres, are projected to be needed to accommodate rental car facilities at the Kahului Airport by 2025.

Because the existing rental car facilities are located at the end of the terminal roadway system, rental car customers returning vehicles must circulate through, adding to congestion in front of the terminals.

Car Rental pickup at Kahului Airport. Photo by Wendy Osher.