Akun Island ( ale, Akungan) is one of the Fox Islands subgroup of the Aleutian Islands in the

Aleutians East Borough Aleutians East Borough () is a 2nd class List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska, borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the borough's population was 3,420. The borough seat is Sand Point, Alas ...

of southwestern Alaska.

Geography

The island lies east of

Akutan Island Akutan Island ( ale, Akutanax̂; russian: Акутан) is an inhabited island in the Fox Islands group of the eastern Aleutian Islands in the Aleutians East Borough of Alaska. Geography The island is approximately 18 mi (30 km) in ...

and southwest of Unimak Island, across the

Unimak Pass The Fox Islands Passes are waterways in the Fox Islands area of the U.S. state of Alaska, connecting the Bering Sea with the North Pacific Ocean . From the southward and eastward, bound for Bering Sea, there are three passes used by deep-draft ...

strait. The

Krenitzin Islands The Krenitzin Islands (centered at ca. ) are a group of small islands located in the eastern portion of the Fox Islands (Alaska), Fox Islands group of the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The Krenitizins are situated between Unalaska Island to t ...

lie to the south and southeast, across the Avatanak Strait. Akun Island has a land area of 64.39 sq mi (166.77 km²). It is long, wide.

Population

It is unpopulated, except for airport workers and a few people controlling the cattle. Akun Island is home to a small but significant population of cows. They are no longer domesticated but the population is controlled. Three domesticated horses also inhabit the island.

Airport

With the cessation of amphibious airplane service to Akutan on

, the

Akutan Seaplane Base Akutan Seaplane Base is a public use seaplane base located in Akutan, a city on Akutan Island in the Aleutians East Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. Scheduled seaplane service was subsidized by the Essential Air Service program until late 2 ...

closed in 2012. It was replaced by a new $75.5m land-based airstrip 6 miles across the water on Akun Island, named Akutan Airport. It was built by Kiewit, R&M Consultants, and DOT. The airport was connected to Akutan by an expensive

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...

shuttle, which couldn't operate safely when winds were too strong or waves too high. Operating costs were very high. Currently, a helicopter provides the link between Akun and Akutan. The airport has a small hotel, which is used when a flight arrives but the hovercraft is unable to run.New airport, and now a new hotel, for tiny Akutan
, ''Alaska Dispatch News'', December 24, 2012, Retrieved 2013-07-10

References

{{authority control Fox Islands (Alaska) Islands of Aleutians East Borough, Alaska Islands of Alaska