KANEOHE, Hawaii (KHON2) — The Blue Angels are on the Islands and they are drawing a crowd.
Officials said about 11,000 vehicles entered Kaneohe Marine Corps Base on Saturday, Aug. 13 and expected similar numbers on Sunday, Aug. 14.
KHON2 checked in to see if things went smoother on their last day of performances. One pair of locals said they had been in traffic for a couple of hours.
“Yeah, two hours,” Honolulu resident Gigi said.
KHON2 asked if the wait was worth it; “Yeah, of course,” Honolulu resident James said. “Absolutely, bro!”
“I’m going back cause I didn’t see it last night, I was in line for two to three hours,” Gigi said.
“It took so long,” James said.
“And I missed the show,” Gigi said.
Folks seemed in a happy mood on Sunday, however. Some visitors even had time for jokes.
“Uh yeah, we just flew in from Kauai on our private airplane and we were kind of wishing that we had landed at the air show airport,” California visitor Bill Caster said.
The Sepulveda’s heard about Saturday’s backup and found a lookout spot not too far away on Sunday. KHON2 asked if they felt bad when they saw hundreds of cars just behind them.
“Well, not really,” Ewa Beach resident Louis Sepulveda said.
“They’re going to be late,” said Wanda, Louis’ wife, “They’re going to be late for the show! I’m thinking that.”
But they seemed to be right on time.
“Yeah, right? You think if some of them look at us here, they’ll be like, ‘Hey, that’s one good idea,” Louis said.
It was a good idea for Joseph Pahia; He drives Uber and Lyft and brought a passenger to the air show on Saturday.
“It was crazy, it was worse than this. Like you see actual movement, yesterday there was nothing, no movement at all,” Pahia said. “I’m at this location to avoid this traffic! Cause I mean, from this point of view, you can see the entire show and you don’t have to deal with the traffic at all.”
Officials said in a statement:
On Saturday, August 13th, The MCBH Provost Marshal Office processed nearly 11,000 vehicles aboard the installation as our neighbors on Oahu attending the Kaneohe Bay Air Show. We expect similar attendance for our second performance this weekend.
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
This morning, Sunday, August 14th, MCBH began allowing members of the community to come aboard our installation at 9:00 AM as a courtesy to those who arrived early and in an effort to keep traffic from backing up at our H3 Gate.
Given the roadway constraints present on the Mokapu Peninsula, managing traffic for a large event like the Kaneohe Bay Air Show presents significant challenges for our personnel. Our roads are relatively narrow and parking is limited. As we fill parking lots in a planned and orderly way, traffic is redirected to the next parking lot reserved for air show attendees. Our transportation and parking plan is extensive for this event and we will continue to work diligently to limit the impact air show traffic has on the H3 and other roadways located in the vicinity of MCBH.
For those attending, please follow and the posted road signs and all directions from base personnel. This will allow our Marines to effectively manage air show traffic on the installation and minimize the impacts to traffic off the installation.
Throughout this event, the safety of MCBH personnel and community members attending the air show has been and will continue to be our first priority. We will continue to manage traffic in a safe and orderly manner and we thank our neighbors in the community for their patience and understanding.