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BORA-BORA
Following the Pearl Harbor attack on 07 December 1941, the US military authorities considered to set up a forward supply-base in the Pacific in order to protect New Zealand and Australia from Japanese attacks. Bora-Bora, one of the Leeward islands, was selected in 1941. The operation’s name was “BOBCAT”. The main landing strip, dedicated to bombers, was 2,000 metres long. The first landing took place on 17 March 1943.
Today, it is 1,500 metres long and 22 metres wide and is made of bituminous asphalt. It can welcome the Air Tahiti ATR aircraft, several times a day. This aerodrome ranks second as far as passenger traffic is concerned (290,000 passengers for a population of 8,930 inhabitants). Many private jets belonging to celebrities also land there, often accompanied by their yacht.
TIKEHAU
The atoll of Tikehau is located in the northern part of the Tuamotu, east of Rangiroa, and has 510 inhabitants. Its aerodrome with a 1,200 metre long and 23 metre wide landing strip is oriented 063°/243° and was built on the largest and widest islet of the island, where the village is situated. Tuamotu landing strips are often oriented East-West, i.e. along the direction of trade winds most of the time. It was open to public air traffic on 29 June 1977.
It regularly receives ATR72 aircraft, since the extension and reinforcement of the landing strip in 1998. Passenger traffic was around 26,000 in 2011, which places it at the 7th rank among French Polynesian airports.
UA POU
UA POU is a mountainous island of the northern group of the Marquesas islands, which has some 2,250 inhabitants. Its aerodrome was open to public air traffic on 25 November 1976, as a mean to open up the Marquesas islands. The landing strip is particular in that it is like an altiport built at sea level! It is 846 metres long. There is only one direction for landing (uphill) and one direction for take-off (downhill).
Given its unusual characteristics, this is a restricted landing strip, which only commercial aircraft such as TwinOtter or Dornier 228 can use. Its access requires a special authorisation. Any tourist visiting the Marquesas islands has a vivid memory of his/her landing at and taking off from Ua Pou.
M. BONNARD
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