Munda airport in the Solomon Islands is set to open to international traffic during the second quarter of 2018 following a lengthy reconstruction period, the New Zealand High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands, Don Higgins, has told Radio New Zealand.
Located on New Georgia Island, Munda airfield's reconstruction has taken seven years and has been funded by New Zealand. According to the Solomon Times, the New Zealand government has allocated at least USD26 million to the project.
Once works have been completed, expected in March or April 2018, Solomons - Solomon Airlines (IE, Honiara) will look to relaunch direct international flights to Brisbane International, Higgins said.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the Solomon Islands' flag carrier is currently the sole operator at Munda, flying 10x weekly to the capital Honiara, 7x weekly to Gizo and 1x weekly to each of Kagau, Ramata and Sege.
Once open for international flights, Munda airport is expected to provide a boost to tourism in the western part of the Solomon Islands.
