Muschu Airstrip

Military abandonment. The airstrip was constructed and used by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Following the surrender of Japanese forces in the region in September 1945, the airfield served no further strategic purpose for either the Japanese or the victorious Allied forces. It was subsequently abandoned and left to be reclaimed by the jungle.

The airstrip is completely defunct and overgrown. The faint outline of the single runway is still visible on satellite imagery, but it is now covered by dense jungle and what appear to be coconut plantations. There are no remaining airport buildings or infrastructure. The site, along with the rest of the island, is a historical landmark containing numerous war relics, including wrecked aircraft, tunnels, and gun emplacements, making it a destination for war historians and adventurous tourists. The land is primarily used for subsistence agriculture by the local island community.

Muschu Airstrip was a significant Japanese military airfield during the New Guinea Campaign of World War II. Constructed by the Japanese Army, it served as a satellite and dispersal field for the main Japanese airbase complex at Wewak on the mainland. Its primary role was to host fighter aircraft, such as the Ki-43 Oscar and Ki-61 Tony, for the defense of Wewak from increasingly intense Allied air raids. From mid-1943 until early 1945, the airstrip and the island's gun emplacements were heavily and repeatedly bombed by the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The island is also famous for being the site of 'Operation Copper,' a tragic Australian Z Special Unit reconnaissance mission in April 1945, where commandos were sent to survey Japanese defenses, including the coastal guns protecting the approaches to Wewak and the airstrip.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Muschu Airstrip. The island has a very small population, and its transportation needs are met by boat services to the provincial capital of Wewak on the mainland, which has a fully operational airport (Wewak Airport, WWK). The cost of clearing the jungle, rebuilding the runway, and creating modern facilities would be prohibitive and lacks any economic or strategic justification.