Santo-Pekoa International Airport is an airport in Luganville

Luganville

Luganville, called "Santo" by people from Vanuatu's northern islands who use Luganville as their big city, and called "Kanal" by rural residents of the large island of Espiritu Santo, is the second largest city in Vanuatu. The population is .Luganville is one of Vanuatu's busiest ports,...

 on Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....

 in Vanuatu

Vanuatu

Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...

 . Airports Vanuatu Limited provides aviation services for the airport.

Airlines and destinations

History

During World War II, the airport was known as "Luganville Airfield", "Bomber Field No. 2" or "Pekoa Field". It was built by the Americans on a prewar plantation.

Large numbers of Americans and aircraft used these airfields as a staging area prior to moving north into the Solomon Islands. Units assigned were:

• Headquarters, XIII Bomber Command
  XIII Bomber Command
  The XIII Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Thirteenth Air Force, based at Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines. It was inactivated on 15 March 1946....
  
  , 13 January-20 August 1943
• Headquarters, XIII Fighter Command
  XIII Fighter Command
  The XIII Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Thirteenth Air Force, based at Manila, Luzon, Philippines. It was inactivated on 15 March 1946....
  
  , 22 January-December 1943
• 5th Bombardment Group, 1 December 1942-19 August 1943
• 11th Bombardment Group, 22 July 1942-8 April 1943
• 18th Fighter Group, 11 March-17 April 1943
• 4th Reconnaissance Group
  4th Reconnaissance Group
  The 4th Reconnaissance Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Thirteenth Air Force and was stationed at Clark Field, Philippines. It was inactivated on 15 January 1946....
  
  , 23 January 1943-6 May 1944
• 403d Troop Carrier Group, 13 September 1943-30 August 1944

There were originally three wartime airfields on Espiritu Santo, "Bomber 1" (Pallikulo, Palikulo Field, Fighter 1), Turtle Bay Airfield and Pekoa. Today, Pekoa is the remaining wartime airfield which is still being used as an airport.

See also

• USAAF in the South Pacific
  United States Army Air Forces in the South Pacific Area
  During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces engaged in combat against the Empire of Japan in the South Pacific Area. As defined by the War Department, this consisted of the Pacific Ocean areas which lay south of the Equator between longitude 159° East and 110° West...
  
  

External links

• Airports Vanuatu Ltd.