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Ballalae Airport
Ballalae, Solomon Islands
Ballalae Airport
Remote island airstrip serving the Shortland Islands of Solomon Islands.
- ›Located on Ballalae Island in the Shortland Islands group of Western Province.
- ›The island was occupied by Japanese forces during World War II and used as a military base.
- ›Ballalae was the site of a wartime airfield constructed using Allied prisoners of war as forced labor.
- ›The airport primarily serves the local island community with very limited scheduled services.
- ›Ballalae Island lies close to the border with Papua New Guinea's Bougainville region.
Ballalae Airport is a small airstrip located on Ballalae Island in the Western Province of Solomon Islands. The site carries significant World War II historical weight, as the island was used as a Japanese military base and airfield during the Pacific campaign. Today it serves as a basic rural airstrip providing essential connectivity to an otherwise isolated island community.
- Main Airstrip Terminal — A minimal open-air facility offering basic passenger processing with no commercial amenities.
- Walking to nearby village settlements
- Boat transfers to surrounding islands
- Private vehicle arrangements by local contacts
There are no dining facilities within the airstrip itself. Visitors should expect to rely entirely on hospitality from local communities or bring their own provisions, as commercial food services are absent on the island.
- Confirm your flight with the operator well in advance as schedules are irregular and subject to change.
- Carry sufficient cash as there are no ATMs or banking facilities on the island.
- Bring your own water and food supplies for the duration of your stay.
- Respect the island's WWII historical sites and local community customs during your visit.
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Airlines serving this airport
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Routes
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Balalae Airport is a small civil airport on Balalae Island operated by Solomon Airlines. It is located in the northwest of the Solomon Islands, part of the Shortland Islands and south of Bougainville Island. It serves the nearby Shortland Islands and Fauro Island. It's a 1.75 km long sandy coral airstrip only 5 feet above sea level with a small customs area. It was built by prisoners of war, mostly British captured during the siege of Singapore, under the command of the Japanese during their occupation of the Solomons to protect the stronghold of Rabaul. In about June 1943, all Allied prisoners remaining on the island were killed and buried in mass graves. 436 bodies of unidentified soldiers were exhumed post-war. During 1943, Isoroku Yamamoto planned to arrive on the airport from Rabaul to increase morale after the defeat at the Battle of Guadalcanal. He was shot down while passing Bougainville Island during Operation Vengeance, during the Guadalcanal campaign.
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