Lonorore Airport or Lonoror (possibly from Ske ''lon or or'' "in the fences") is an airport on south-western Pentecost Island,

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

, 3 km south of Baravet village.

Overview

Lonorore began as a grass airstrip, capable of accommodating 20-seater

Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restart ...

aircraft in good conditions, although it was frequently unusable due to waterlogging in wet weather. The airport is in the middle of an old coconut plantation, and was first built as a private airstrip in colonial times by the plantation owner. The airport was upgraded in 2008–2009 with a longer, tarmacked runway capable of operating in most weather conditions and being used by larger ATR aircraft, though in practice the airport is still serviced only by Twin Otters, together with Islanders and small charter planes. Lonorore is used for

Air Vanuatu Air Vanuatu is an airline with its head office in the Air Vanuatu House, Port Vila, Vanuatu. It is Vanuatu's national flag carrier, operating to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and points in the South Pacific. Its main base is Bauerfiel ...

domestic flights to

Port Vila Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate. Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the pr ...

and Santo, sometimes via Ambae. Schedules change regularly but there are typically flights on two or three days of the week. Between April and June the airport caters for significant numbers of day trippers from

who come to watch the weekly land-diving ceremonies. Near the airport is a small post office (currently defunct) and an aid post. On flight days, women often set up markets near the airport, selling homegrown vegetables and homecooked food. Lonorore is one of two airports on Pentecost, the other being Sara in the north. Lonorore is a long distance from Sara by road, but is occasionally used as an alternative airport by passengers from northern Pentecost when Sara is closed due to adverse weather or volcanic ashfall, as Sara is more vulnerable to these disruptions than Lonorore.

Airlines and destinations

Gallery

File:Chiefs+politicians parading round plane 3.jpg, Custom dancing at the opening ceremony of the upgraded Lonorore Airport, July 2009 File:Plane approaching Lonorore.jpg, Plane approaching the old Lonorore airstrip, prior to upgrading, 2006

References

External links

{{authority control Airports in Vanuatu Penama Province