Aropa Airport | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Location | Kieta, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 11 ft / 3 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 06°18′18″S155°43′40″E / 6.30500°S 155.72778°E Coordinates: 06°18′18″S155°43′40″E / 6.30500°S 155.72778°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  KIE Location of airport in Papua New Guinea | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Source: PNG Airstrip Guide [1] | |||||||||||
Aropa Airport (or Kieta Airport) is an airport in Kieta, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. [1]
The original grass airfield was occupied and expanded by the Imperial Japanese in spring 1942. It then became the target of Allied air bombing from mid-1943 to mid-1944. [2]
After World War II the airport became one of Bougainville's main airports.
The airport was partially destroyed during the Bougainville Crisis of the 1990s and had been closed since then.
For many years the airfield was disused and overgrown with bush.
In February 2012 the owners announced their intention to reopen the airport. In a ceremony held on December 12, 2014 the airport was officially reopened by the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O'Neill, and by the president of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, John Momis. [3]
For the time being the airport can only accommodate aircraft the size of Bombardier Dash 8 or smaller.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| PNG Air | Rabaul |
Bougainville, officially the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, is an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea. The largest island is Bougainville Island, while the region also includes Buka Island and a number of outlying islands and atolls. The interim capital is Buka, although this is considered temporary, with the capital likely to move. One potential location is Arawa, the previous capital.
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