Loani Airport

The airport was closed because its military purpose became obsolete with the end of World War II. Built as a strategic forward airbase, there was no sufficient economic or civilian demand to justify its maintenance and operation after the cessation of hostilities. The focus of aviation infrastructure shifted to more economically viable locations.

The site is completely abandoned and in a state of disrepair. The former runway and taxiways are heavily overgrown with dense vegetation, including large trees, and are no longer visible from the ground as an airfield. The land has been reclaimed by the surrounding jungle and is partially used for subsistence farming by local villagers. The outline of the runway is still faintly discernible in satellite imagery, but it is entirely unusable for aviation.

Loani Airport, historically known as Loani Airfield, was a significant World War II military airbase on Normanby Island. Constructed by the U.S. Army's 871st Airborne Engineer Battalion starting in December 1943, it served as a crucial forward base for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during the New Guinea campaign. It supported the Allied advance by hosting fighter groups, including the USAAF 49th Fighter Group (flying P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts) and the RAAF No. 75 Squadron (flying P-40 Kittyhawks). Operations from Loani included fighter sweeps, bomber escorts, and ground-attack missions against Japanese forces.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Loani Airport. The cost to clear the extensive vegetation, survey the land, and completely rebuild the runway and any supporting infrastructure would be substantial. Given the small population of the island and the existence of other operational airstrips and maritime transport in the Milne Bay Province, there is no current economic or strategic incentive for its rehabilitation.