DOT: Expect longer waits for USDA baggage inspections at Honolulu airport

State Department of Transportation officials said domestic passengers departing from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport should allow for extra time for pre-flight baggage inspection due to staffing issues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection stations.

Starting Sunday, only one agricultural inspection station will be open in Lobby 7 after 8 a.m. and one in Lobby 8, officials said in a news release.

In Lobby 7, the station in front of the American Airlines check-in counters will open from 5 to 8 a.m. only, the said, while the Lobby 8 station in front of the ANA counters “will be closed until further notice.

The inspection station in Lobby 5 will open at 8:55 a.m., the same time Alaska Airlines opens its check-in counters, and all other USDA inspection stations will open at 5 a.m., according to the release.

DOT said passengers traveling to the continental U.S., Alaska and Guam must have their baggage inspected by the USDA to restrict the movement of plants, insects and hazardous plant diseases.