: ''For the military history of the airport, see

Henderson Field (Guadalcanal) Henderson Field is a former military airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands during World War II. Originally built by the Japanese Empire, the conflict over its possession was one of the great battles of the Pacific War. Today it is Honiara I ...

'' Honiara International Airport , formerly known as Henderson Field, is an airport in the province of

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

in the nation of

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

. It is the primary international airport in the country, the second being

Munda Airport Munda Airport is an international airport adjacent to the town of Munda, Western Province in Solomon Islands. Originally built by Japanese forces during World War II and further developed by the U. S. Naval Construction Battalions 24 and 73 f ...

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

, which serves as its alternate. It is located from the capital, Honiara.

History

The airstrip was under construction by engineers of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

when it was captured by the American 1st Marine Division. The Marines renamed the nascent field for Marine Major Lofton Henderson, the first Marine aviator killed in action at the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...

. Henderson, commanding officer of VMSB-241, had died while leading his squadron in an attack against Japanese carrier forces. Finishing and repairing the field became the main project of the

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

s of Naval Construction Battalion 6. Control of the airstrip was the focus of months of fighting in the Battle for Henderson Field during the

Guadalcanal campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...

of World War II and the Seabees ensured that the airstrip remained operational throughout the battle. The field was abandoned after the war, but reopened in 1969 as an international, civilian airport. The airport routinely accommodates the

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...

. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 57 km southwest of Honiara on November 22, 2022. The earthquake caused damage to the airport, where part of the ceiling collapsed.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

References

Airports in the Solomon Islands Buildings and structures in Honiara {{Solomons-struct-stub