Bauerfield International Airport

Bauerfield International, named for U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Harold William Bauer — the Medal of Honor Guadalcanal Campaign aviator killed in 1942 — is the principal international gateway to Vanuatu, a Y-shaped archipelago of 83 islands spread across 1,300 km of the southwest Pacific. The 2,600 m (8,530 ft) asphalt main runway plus a grass secondary strip give the airport capacity for full narrowbody and limited widebody operations. Sole-international-gateway status for a country of 330,000 combined with runway scale qualifies VLI for the 534 largest. About 9 airlines operate 19 routes to 15 destinations (2026). Air Vanuatu (the state-owned flag carrier, which entered liquidation in May 2024 and was being restructured under government ownership during 2024–2025), Fiji Airways, Air Niugini, Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, Solomon Airlines, Qantas, and Aircalin fly the international schedule to Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Nadi, Noumea, Honiara, and Port Moresby. Domestic service on Air Vanuatu's ATR and DHC-6 fleet connects Port Vila to Santo, Tanna, Malekula, and the outer islands — a network that remains the only practical means of inter-island transport. The airfield's origin as a U.S. World War II base — briefly one of the largest Allied Pacific air installations during the Solomon Islands campaign — is still visible in the layout of the surrounding Port Vila suburbs and in occasional revetment earthworks beyond the current apron. A Japan-financed terminal upgrade completed in the late 2010s modernised passenger handling. VLI was severely tested by Cyclone Pam (2015) and Cyclone Harold (2020), with resilience upgrades since. The airport is the regional alternate for Nadi and Noumea and a designated humanitarian-staging facility for the southwest Pacific.