Nadi International Airport
IATA: NAN – ICAO: NFFN
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Airports Fiji Limited (AFL)
Serves		Nadi
Location		Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji
Hub for		Air Pacific
Elevation AMSL		18 m / 59 ft
Coordinates		17°45′19″S 177°26′36″E / 17.75528°S 177.44333°E / -17.75528; 177.44333
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
02/20	3,273	10,739	Asphalt
09/27	2,136	7,007	Asphalt

Nadi International Airport (IATA: NAN, ICAO: NFFN) is the main international gateway for the islands of Fiji. It serves about 1.2 million people per year, and is the main hub of Air Pacific.

Contents 1 History 2 Operations 3 Airlines and destinations 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

The original airstrips at Nadi were built by New Zealand in 1939. They were paid for by the British colonial authorities and were used by the United States Army Air Forces when the Pacific War began in 1941, as USAAF Nadi. Early in the war, the Americans flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Nadi against Japanese targets in the Philippines and Solomon Islands. Later in 1943, the 42d Bombardment Group, flew B-25 Mitchells from Nadi.

Following the end of the war, control of Nadi Airport was handed over to New Zealand on 20 December 1946, and the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand began operations from Nadi in 1947. At independence in 1970, the Fijian government began participating in the organisation of Nadi Airport, and full control was handed over in 1979.

The first tarmac runway was constructed in 1946 at a cost of £46,500; length 7000ft x 150ft - 2133m x 46m.

Then, as now, Fiji was the crossroads of the Pacific - and in those days was even more important as a refuelling stop. Back then, the apron was shaded by palms and crotons and hibiscus trees, with whitewashed stone paths connecting it to the terminal. These have now been lost under concrete as the apron has expanded over the years, as aeroplanes larger in both number and size land at Nadi. In those days (1940s, 1950s), the airport's official name was Colony of Fiji: Nadi Airport; although foreign timetables continued to spell the name incorrectly as Nandi.

Nadi was selected as the major airport for Fiji mainly due to its location on the drier west coast of Viti Levu.

During the first half of the 1960s, Nadi served as a key airport for transfer of passengers from Auckland's Whenuapai airport which could only take turboprop and piston aeroplanes, onto the new DC-8s and Boeing 707s bound for North America and Europe. At one time, New Zealand controlled the world's largest Flight Information Service (FIS), which at its largest stretched to 10,360,000 square kilometres. All of this was controlled from Nadi.

[edit] Operations

Arrivals and departures are much preferred to be to the south, due to the close proximity of the Sabeto Range to the immediate north of the airport. A large turn around area, suitable for Boeing 747s, is located to the left of the threshold of Runway 02, in case meteorological factors make departure to the north necessary.

In 2008, a Qantas Airbus A380 had to make an emergency landing to disembark a sick passenger, showing that whilst not certified, the facilities at Nadi are sufficient to cater for the largest civilian aeroplane in the world.

Today, the largest concentration of hotels in Fiji has grown up in and around Nadi, and as tourism took off in the 1960s, the nearby resorts under construction in the nearby Mamanuca Islands cemented Nadi as the centre of Fiji's tourism industry.

Nadi is also the operational base for Air Pacific, which services 6 airports throughout the south-west Pacific, and many more on the Pacific Rim. Remnants of the largest FIS in the world remain as, for example, Nadi Tower provides an FIS service for Fua'amotu Airport in Tonga when Fua'amotu Tower is off watch.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Aircalin	Nouméa, Wallis Island
Air Kiribati	Tarawa
Air New Zealand	Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington [seasonal]
Air Niugini	Honiara, Port Moresby
Air Pacific	Apia, Auckland, Brisbane, Christchurch, Funafuti, Hong Kong [begins 3 December], Honiara, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Nuku'alofa, Port Vila, Suva, Sydney, Tarawa
Air Pacific operated by Pacific Sun	Kadavu, Labasa, Malololailai, Mana, Pacific Harbour, Savusavu, Suva, Taveuni
Air Vanuatu	Port Vila
Continental Airlines operated by Continental Micronesia	Guam [begins 20 December], Honolulu [begins 19 December]
Korean Air	Seoul-Incheon
Virgin Blue operated by Pacific Blue	Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney [ends 17 December], Melbourne [1]
V Australia	Sydney [begins 18 December]

[edit] See also

• USAAF in the South Pacific

[edit] References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
• Mauer, Mauer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ISBN 0892010975

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nadi International Airport

• Nadi International Airport (official site)

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