Bauerfield International Airport (IATA: VLI, ICAO: NVVV) (French: Aéroport International Bauerfield) is an airport located in Port Vila, Vanuatu. The airport is relatively small in size, but its runway has the capability and length to accept jets up to the Airbus A330. It served as the hub for Vanuatu's flag carrier airline, Air Vanuatu.
History
Map of Efate Island showing military installations 27 July 1943
International terminalApron view
During World War II
With Japanese forces establishing bases on Guadalcanal which threatened the sea route between the U.S. and Australia, Admiral King distributed the joint basic plan for the occupation and defense of Efate (the island containing Port Vila) on 20 March 1942. Under its terms the US Army was to defend Efate and support the defense of ships and positions. The US Navy's task was: (1) to construct, administer and operate a naval advance base, seaplane base, and harbor facilities; (2) to support Army forces in the defense of the island; (3) to construct an airfield and at least two outlying dispersal fields; (4) to provide facilities for the operation of seaplane-bombers.[1]
On 25 March 1942, the Army sent about 500 men to Efate from Nouméa, and the 4th Defense Battalion, 45th Marines, arrived on 8 April. Elements of the Seabees 1st Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Efate on 4 May 1942. The Marines had already cleared a coral 2,000 feet (610 m) by 200 feet (61 m) runway near Port Vila on part of a plantation owned by Henri Russet. The Seabees expanded this to 6,000 feet (1,800 m) by 350 feet (110 m).[1]: 204–5
The airfield was originally named Efate Field, Vila Field or McDonald Field but was later officially named Bauer Field after Lt-Col. Harold W. Bauer, a fighter pilot in the US Marine Corps who was lost at sea on 14 November 1942 after being shot down during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
The base was disestablished and abandoned in February 1946.[1]: 206
Development since the 2000s
The airport runway was rebuilt in 2019 after a 3-year construction project funded by the World Bank.[2] It was damaged in the 2024 Port Vila earthquake on 17 December,[3] causing its closure to non-humanitarian flights for 72 hours.[4] Commercial operations resumed on 22 December following repairs.[5]
On 28 July 2018, an ATR-72 operating Air Vanuatu Flight 241 suffered a runway excursion whilst landing with an engine shut down following an in-flight fire. The aircraft collided with two Britten-Norman Islanders, writing one off and severely damaging the other.[citation needed]
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