Gnarowein Airport

The closure was not due to a single event like an accident or military conversion. It is characteristic of many remote airstrips in Papua New Guinea that closed due to a combination of factors, primarily economic. These include: lack of consistent funding for maintenance (which is often the responsibility of the local community), withdrawal of government subsidies for air services to remote areas, and a general decline in the frequency of flights, making the upkeep of the airstrip unsustainable. The runway gradually became overgrown and unusable.

The airport is abandoned and has been reclaimed by nature. High-resolution satellite imagery shows the clear outline of the grass/dirt runway, but it is completely overgrown with tall grass, shrubs, and small trees, rendering it unusable for any aircraft. The site has not been repurposed for agriculture, housing, or any other development; it remains an overgrown field identifiable only from the air as a former airstrip.

Gnarowein Airport was a critical piece of infrastructure for the isolated communities in the mountainous interior of Morobe Province. As a remote 'bush strip', its primary purpose was to provide a lifeline to the outside world. When active, it handled essential services such as medical evacuations (medevac), the delivery of vital supplies like medicine, food, and mail, and transportation for missionaries, government patrols, and local inhabitants. Operations were conducted exclusively by specialized Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) aircraft, such as the Pilatus Porter, Britten-Norman Islander, and Cessna 206, which were the only means of accessing the region.

There are currently no known or publicly announced plans to rehabilitate or reopen Gnarowein Airport. While Papua New Guinea's Rural Airstrip Agency (RAA) and other organizations work to restore vital rural airstrips across the country, Gnarowein is not listed as a priority project. Any prospect for reopening would depend entirely on a new, compelling need from the local community and the securing of significant funding from the government or a non-governmental organization.