Karoola Airport

Military abandonment following the end of World War II. Soraken Airfield was a temporary military installation built by Japanese forces. It was heavily damaged and neutralized by Allied air attacks during the war and was subsequently abandoned after the Japanese surrender. It was never converted for civilian use and was allowed to be reclaimed by the jungle.

The site is completely overgrown and has been reclaimed by dense tropical jungle and local agriculture, such as coconut plantations. There are no visible remnants of a runway, taxiways, or any other airport infrastructure visible in modern satellite imagery. The area remains remote and largely undeveloped.

The site corresponds to the historical Soraken Airfield, built by the Japanese Imperial Navy around 1943. It was part of a critical network of airfields on Buka and northern Bougainville (including Buka, Bonis, and Kahili airfields) designed to defend the region and project air power against Allied forces advancing through the Solomon Islands. From late 1943 through 1944, Soraken was a primary target for Allied bombing raids conducted by the USAAF, RAAF, and RNZAF, which successfully rendered the airfield inoperable for the remainder of the war.

There are no known or plausible prospects for reopening an airfield at this location. The Autonomous Region of Bougainville is adequately served by the nearby Buka Airport (ICAO: AYBK, IATA: BUA), which is the primary air transport hub for the region. Re-establishing a long-abandoned, remote WWII airstrip would be economically unviable and serves no strategic or commercial purpose.