Honiara International Airport

Honiara International Airport, on the north shore of Guadalcanal, is the sole international gateway to Solomon Islands — a Melanesian archipelago of more than 990 islands spread across roughly 1.35 million square kilometres of Pacific Ocean. The 2,200 m (7,218 ft) asphalt runway occupies a site of particular historical weight: it was built by Japanese forces in 1942 as 'Lunga Airfield,' captured by U.S. Marines and renamed Henderson Field, and its seizure in August 1942 triggered the six-month Guadalcanal Campaign. That pedigree plus sole-international-gateway status for a nation of roughly 750,000 places HIR in the global 534. About 4 airlines operate 24 routes to 20 destinations (2026). Solomon Airlines, the flag carrier, runs the domestic network — a web of short-runway regional strips on Munda, Gizo, Auki, Kirakira, and Santa Cruz — plus international service to Brisbane, Port Vila, Nadi, and Port Moresby. Fiji Airways, Air Niugini, and Virgin Australia add regional links. Almost all international traffic funnels through HIR; domestic throughput dominates overall movements. A new terminal financed by Japanese ODA and a parallel taxiway project completed in 2023 substantially expanded capacity ahead of the 2023 Pacific Games hosted in Honiara. HIR is also the designated widebody alternate for neighboring Pacific states, and its runway length and fuel storage capacity make it one of the few Melanesian airfields capable of accepting trans-Pacific diversions. Remnants of World War II revetments, hardstands, and taxiway grids from the original Henderson Field are still visible from the passenger terminal apron.