Robinson River Airport

The specific reason for closure is not documented. The most probable cause is economic non-viability, a common fate for many small, remote airstrips in PNG. This likely stemmed from one or more of the following: 1) The cessation of the specific project it was built to serve, such as a mining exploration camp, logging operation, or missionary post. 2) The high and unsustainable cost of runway maintenance in a tropical, high-rainfall environment. 3) The eventual construction of a road link to the area, which, even if rudimentary, would have become a more cost-effective method for transporting goods and supplies, rendering the airstrip obsolete.

The airport is definitively closed and abandoned. Current satellite imagery clearly shows the remnant of a single runway, which is now completely overgrown with dense grass, shrubs, and small trees. The airstrip is unusable for any form of aviation. The cleared land is still visible as a distinct scar in the jungle, and it is likely used by the nearby local village as a footpath or for small-scale agriculture.

Robinson River Airport was a remote, unpaved bush airstrip, critical for accessing the rugged interior of the Owen Stanley Range. It never held major commercial significance and did not have an IATA code. Its purpose was purely functional: to serve as a lifeline for a small, isolated community or a specific industrial or missionary endeavor. Operations would have been exclusively conducted by STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft, such as the Pilatus Porter, Britten-Norman Islander, and Cessna 206, which are the workhorses of PNG's challenging aviation environment. These aircraft would have transported essential supplies, personnel, mail, and medical evacuations, connecting the location to larger provincial towns.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Robinson River Airport. The cost to clear, regrade, and potentially rebuild the runway to modern safety standards would be substantial. Without a significant new economic driver in the immediate vicinity, such as a major mining or agricultural project, there is no financial or logistical justification for its revival. The focus of aviation development in Papua New Guinea is on maintaining and upgrading its network of existing strategic regional and provincial airports.