Oria Airport

The airport was closed due to the cessation of military hostilities following the end of the Bougainville Civil War (also known as the Bougainville Crisis). The airstrip was primarily a military and logistical base for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) and its allied local forces. Its strategic purpose became obsolete with the permanent ceasefire in 1998 and the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001. With no subsequent economic or civilian justification for its operation, it was abandoned and fell into disuse.

The airport is completely defunct and non-operational. Satellite imagery of the coordinates confirms that the former runway is heavily overgrown with grass and other vegetation, making it unusable for any type of aircraft. There are no remaining airport facilities or infrastructure. The land appears to have reverted to general community use, with the faint outline of the runway being the only evidence of its past as an airstrip.

Oria Airstrip's significance is almost exclusively tied to the Bougainville Civil War (1988-1998). It was a crucial forward operating base for the PNGDF and the Bougainville Resistance Forces (BRF), who were fighting against the secessionist Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). The airstrip enabled the transport of troops, military hardware, food, and medical supplies into a remote and contested area of South Bougainville. It supported military operations and also served as a vital lifeline for nearby 'care centres,' which were essentially refugee camps for civilians displaced by the intense fighting. Operations would have involved rugged Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) military transport aircraft capable of using short, unpaved runways.

There are no known or published plans to reopen Oria Airstrip. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) is focused on maintaining and upgrading its two major airports, Buka Airport (AYBK) in the north and Aropa Airport (AYIQ) in the central region, to support broader economic development and potential future international travel. Given its remote location, the lack of a specific economic driver (like a mine or major agricultural project) in the immediate vicinity, and the high cost of rehabilitation, the prospects for reopening Oria are considered negligible.