United Airlines resume passenger service to Majuro following the completion of emergency renovation work at Amata Kabua International Airport's main terminal.
Tentative plans were in motion for passenger service to resume last month, according to Marshall Islands Ports Authority officials.
Passenger pickup and drop-off in Majuro - except for repatriation groups that do not use the airport terminal - have been halted for nearly three months. United Airlines announced on January 18 that it was halting passenger service to and from Majuro due to the hazardous condition of the airport terminal.
Photo: Eve Burns
The problem with the terminal had been known since early 2020 when the Hawaii engineering company Pryzm issued a report on termite damage and other problems throughout the 50-year-old terminal. Despite the report for the Ports Authority in 2020, no action was taken to improve the facility, even after a United Airlines employee fell through the floor of the airline's former second-floor office in the main terminal last October.
It wasn't until United suspended passenger service that the Marshall Islands government and Ports Authority moved into speedy action, engaging Pacific International Inc. to renovate the main terminal, customs, and cargo areas.
United had continued stopping in Majuro on its Island Hopper flight between Hawaii and Guam for refueling and to drop off small groups of people being repatriated who were collected directly from the airplane and taken to quarantine facilities as part of Covid-prevention rules.
Photo: Giff Johnson
Once passenger service is restored, Ports Authority Acting CEO Larry Hernandez said, "they anticipate renovation work will proceed on other areas outside the main terminal to address termite and other issues to improve the safety of the facility."