Buka Airport guide

Buka Airport (ICAO AYBK) is the main air gateway to Buka Island and the northern part of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. It sits at the southern end of the island, beside Buka Passage and just behind Buka town. The elevation is about 3 metres above sea level.

The airfield began in 1941, when Australian troops built gun pits around a basic airstrip. They prepared it for demolition in January 1942, and Japanese forces occupied it by mid-March 1942. Allied bombers repeatedly cratered the runway in 1943. Allied forces took the field in January 1944, and US P-61 night fighters flew from it until May 1944.

The single asphalt runway, 04/22, is 1,562 metres long. It suits turboprops and small narrow-body jets. The terminal is a small single-storey building with check-in counters for the airlines that serve it. Flights link Buka with Port Moresby, Lae and Rabaul.

Service has been interrupted several times by security and infrastructure problems. In 2019 the National Airports Corporation closed the airport for a period and diverted flights to Aropa Airport near Kieta. A redevelopment backed by the PNG government and the Asian Development Bank plans fencing, a 400-metre runway extension, strengthened pavement and a new terminal. In April 2026 the Bougainville government announced Bougainville Wings, a new airline based at Buka.