Description & Facts: When the jet age arrived, a larger terminal was needed as the time taken to cross the Pacific Ocean shrank, and the number of passengers increased. In 1955, a British Overseas Airlines Corporation (BOAC) de Havilland Comet III was the first pure-jet flight to arrive in Honolulu.

As the propliners were phased out in favour of pure jets, more airlines used HNL as a staging post. Boeing 707s and DC-8s from various carriers from the US and the Far East were common sights on the tarmac, and BOAC brought in the Vickers VC-10 on its around-the-world treks.

A new main terminal was completed in 1962 and named after John Rodgers. It sported an open-air observation deck on top of the main concourse, giving visitors a great view of the airliners parked on the apron. The road leading to the airport is called Rodgers Boulevard and his initials are also included in the ICAO code for Kalaeloa Airport - JRF - which, up until 2004, was Naval Air Station Barbers point. Kalaeloa serves as a general aviation airport, and a base for US Coast Guar air operations.

With the advent of wide-body airliners like the B747, the DC-10 and the L1011 TriStar, more tourists were able to visit the Hawaiian Islands. In the terminal, extra concourses were constructed with airbridges to the wast and west of the existing facility in 1969. These became known as the Diamond Head (east) and the Ewa (west).

United Airlines has always been the main fixture in the Diamond Head end, sharing a few gates with Star Alliance partner All nippon Airways (ANA) and Northwest Airlines. Pan American was the predominant carrier at the Ewa end, alongside other international operators. The Center Concourse housed US domestic airlines - among them Continental, Trans World Airlines (TWA) and Western - and was the last to undergo conversion to airbridges, which began in 1978.

In 1977, HNL opened its 12,000ft (3,657m) 'Reef Runway', formally known as Runway 08R/26L. It is a man-made island constructed from coral and reclaimed land, and a lagoon separates it from the rest of HNL. It is over 3 miles (5km) from the main terminal, and it takes about ten minutes to taxi to it for departure. It mainly handles local, domestic, international and military departures during normal tradewind conditions. Landins on Runway 08R are a rare occurrence, and usually comprise military flights or emergancies. When winds are from the south (termed Kona), the traffic pattern is reversed, Runway 26L handles both arrivals (all types) and heavy jet departures. The 'Reef' is also designated as an alternate landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle, though it has yet to be used in that capacity.