The lines are long. It's hard to find your way around. It isn't particularly comfortable. There isn't much to buy and even less to eat. And its workers are lacking in the aloha spirit.

That's the way many of the state's Japanese visitors feel about the first and last place they see on a Hawai'i trip: Honolulu International Airport.

If the state is to grow as a tourist destination, it needs to change those perceptions in a hurry, say government and tourism officials set to announce next month a major push to improve airport conditions in Honolulu and across the state.

State Transportation Department officials say they have begun addressing the problems by building a new $5 million security checkpoint, expanding retail opportunities and opening a new food court and bar complex near the gates where international flights arrive and depart. And there's more to come, they say.

Although details aren't being released, a comprehensive new airports plan set to be released later this year ultimately will affect almost every one of the nearly 50,000 people who pass through Hawai'i airports every day, industry officials said. Last year, Japanese tourists made up about 21 percent of the almost 7 million people who arrived here by air.

"Our airports have served us pretty well for a long while, but it's clearly time to take them to the next level," said Stan Brown, Marriott Hotels' international vice president for Pacific islands and Japan.

The changes are badly needed, tourism officials said.

"The WikiWiki shuttle is dilapidated, customs facilities are overcrowded and the aloha spirit is lacking," according to a recently released report by the state's Economic Momentum Commission that calls for redevelopment for Honolulu airport and upgrades for the Neighbor Island airports.

"The plan should combine the establishment of a state-of-the-art facility with an authentic Hawaiian experience," the commission report concludes.

POOR IMPRESSION

Meanwhile, a separate group composed of government officials, airline leaders and other airport users is putting the finishing touches on a redevelopment plan for airports across the state, said Marsha Wienert, the state's tourism liaison.

"Historically, we've dealt with all these problems piecemeal, and the result has been that the airport always has the highest level of dissatisfaction among Japanese tourists," Wienert said. "Now, we're trying to take a larger view of our needs and come up with a comprehensive plan to address them."

Wienert said the group wants to make sure "everyone is on board" with the recommended changes before announcing them. The improvements could range from rearranging the gates used by major airlines to adding more places to shop and eat, industry officials said.

U.S. Mainland and Canadian visitors tend to be happy with their airport experience, according to statistics compiled annually by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Last year, for instance, more than 55 percent of West Coast visitors reported they were "very satisfied" with Hawai'i airports.

By contrast, only 17 percent of Japanese visitors said they were very satisfied. The biggest complaints revolve around long lines for immigration and customs clearance, the availability of food and shopping, the ease of getting around and the friendliness of workers, the statistics show.

"We had to wait almost two hours before we could get out of the airport," said Chinata Yamataka, a three-time visitor from Tokyo who arrived in Honolulu last Saturday. "It was very frustrating." For the first 20 minutes, the entire planeload of passengers was held at the arrival gate to avoid congestion in the customs area, she said.

Osaka resident Hisakazu Gosho, on his fifth visit to Hawai'i in seven years, complained that in years past there were no signs to help visitors locate bathrooms and other services. "It was very hard to find our way around," he said through an airport interpreter.

SOME IMPROVEMENTS

Partly in response to complaints like those, the Transportation Department spent more than $30 million this year on maintenance and other improvements, including better wayfaring signs inside and out of the terminal, development of more shopping areas, better signs and improved air conditioning in the main Honolulu terminal, which has remained largely unchanged since it was finished in the mid-1970s. Gosho said it is much easier now to find his way around the airport.

"There's been tremendous progress made in the last year or so," said Sharon Weiner, vice president of DFS Hawai'i, which operates the duty-free concession inside the airport and recently opened a new $4.5 million store inside the terminal that sells brand-name goods, such as Dunhill, Prada, Cartier and Folli Follie.

Concessionaires, who provide more than half of the airport operating revenues through leases with the state, say they have rebounded well from the devastating economic effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that sharply curtailed travel to Hawai'i, cut off airport access to non-ticketed visitors, and imposed heavy security on what once was a carefree, aloha-filled place bustling with family comings and goings.

"It's not like the old days, but the aloha spirit isn't gone altogether," said Peter Fithian, president of Hawaii Greeters, an airport flower and gift company that has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to the state. "The visitors still expect it. Sometimes you can see them looking around with that look on their face, wondering where their lei is. But the tour operators don't do that as much as they used to."

Twice in the past 15 years, the state has planned major airport improvement projects, only to see them cut short by economic problems. In the early 1990s, there were plans for a new 1.4-million-square-foot, five-story complex that included an extension of the diamondhead concourse and an automated "people mover" system. Those projects were scrapped, however, when the first Gulf War broke out, the state's economy collapsed and a huge government budget surplus evaporated.

In August 2001, the state announced a new $200 million renovation plan. One month later, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks put things on hold. Most airport money since then has gone to security improvements.

SECURITY, STARBUCKS

In the past two years, the airport has added bright new protective canopies near terminal entrances, opened a new security checkpoint to relieve long lines for departing passengers, renovated a shopping area near the international departure gates, put out more carts with lei and other things for visitors to buy, and tried to increase the variety of food for sale, Fithian said.

The new food court, for instance, includes Burger King, Chowmein Express, Lappert's Ice Cream and Pizza Hut. A Starbucks store is a few feet away, as is a tropical-themed Stinger Ray's Bar & Grill. A trio of musicians played Hawaiian and Christmas songs outside the food court on a recent weekday morning.

Problems remain, however.

"The most notable problems are with the international arrival experience," Brown said. "People have to wait in long lines at customs, then wait for the WikiWiki bus or wait for their tour group. It's a pretty challenging process and not the best first experience for someone who has just stepped off a 10-hour red-eye flight."

Earlier this year, the federal Government Accounting Office found that international passengers arriving in Honolulu face an average 40-minute wait to clear customs, the fourth-longest in the nation. Under rules instituted in October 2004, customs officials now require all foreigners, including Japanese visitors, to be fingerprinted and photographed before they leave the airport.

LOOKING AHEAD

Brown said the Economic Momentum Commission is seeking specific recommendations from the public on how to improve the airport experience. Once those are received, the group will decide how to push forward on them, he said.

Meanwhile, the working group headed by Wienert says its recommendations will be comprehensive but phased in over the next five or six years.

"The goal is to make some improvements that will leave us with more satisfied customers," she said.