Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, in Honolulu, United States.

What is the difference between HNL and PHNL?

HNL is the IATA code, used commercially — tickets, timetables, luggage tags. PHNL is the ICAO code, used operationally by pilots and air traffic control, and assigned geographically by region.

What airport is HNL?

HNL is

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

Honolulu, United States

Why the code is HNL

HoNoLulu, using the consonants.

The airport authority or a contemporaneous record states this directly.

The airport

IATA code: HNL
ICAO code: PHNL
Airport: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport
City: Honolulu, United States
Code origin: Documented

The ICAO code starts with P, the prefix for the Pacific rather than the K that covers the contiguous United States — the same reason Alaska's airports begin with PA. Honolulu has a reef runway built on coral fill out in the water, constructed that way to keep noise off Waikiki.

The other code, PHNL

Every airport has two codes. The three-letter IATA code, HNL, is the one on your boarding pass and your luggage tag, and it is assigned for commercial use. The four-letter ICAO code, PHNL, is the one pilots and controllers use, and it is assigned geographically: the first letter or two identify the region, so every airport in the same part of the world shares a prefix. That is why PHNL looks nothing like HNL.

Common questions

What airport is HNL?: Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, in Honolulu, United States.
Why is Honolulu's airport called HNL?: HoNoLulu, using the consonants.
What is the difference between HNL and PHNL?: HNL is the IATA code, used commercially — tickets, timetables, luggage tags. PHNL is the ICAO code, used operationally by pilots and air traffic control, and assigned geographically by region.

United States Capital, area, population and currency
The flag of United States Colours, symbols and lookalikes
Airport codes in United States 32 here
What airport is JFK? John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York
What airport is LAX? Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles
What airport is ORD? O'Hare International Airport, Chicago
What airport is ATL? Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta
What airport is MCO? Orlando International Airport, Orlando
What airport is DFW? Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas
What airport is EWR? Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark
What airport is SFO? San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco

Sources

OurAirports — OurAirports (Public domain)

How these figures are compiled and checked