Momote Airport (IATA: MAS, ICAO: AYMO) is an airport on Los Negros Island in the Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea. It also serves Manus Island, which is connected to Los Negros by a bridge.
Momote Airport
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | PNG National Airports Corporation Limited | ||||||||||
| Operator | PNG National Airports Corporation Ltd | ||||||||||
| Serves | Lorengau, Manus Province | ||||||||||
| Location | Los Negros Island, Papua New Guinea | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 12 ft / 4 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 02°03′43″S 147°25′27″E / 2.06194°S 147.42417°E / -2.06194; 147.42417 | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  MAS Location of airport in Papua New Guinea | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Built by the Imperial Japanese at Momote during World War II. Known as Hayne Airfield by the Japanese, as they called Los Negros, Hayne Island. The runway was 4,100 feet (1,200 m) long × 300 feet (91 m) wide with three taxiways and 12 revetments under construction.[citation needed]
Occupied on 2 March 1944 by the US Army's 1st Cavalry Division as part of the Battle of Los Negros, which was part of the Admiralty Islands campaign.[citation needed]
After liberating the airfield on 2 March 1944, the Seabees of the 40th Naval Construction Battalion repaired the airfield and the airfield became operational on 18 May 1944, although fighters were landing at the airfield only two days after occupation. The single runway was extended to 7,800 feet (2,400 m) long × 130 feet (40 m) wide with 75-foot (23 m) shoulders, constructed with a coral base with marsden matting covering 1,000 feet (300 m) at the ends of the runway. A 7,000-barrel fuel depot was set up at the airfield. The United States Navy established Aviation Repair and Overhaul Unit No.1 (AROU 1) in the spring of 1944 on Momote Airfield between Seeadler Harbor and the Bismarck Sea on Los Negros Island. AROU 1 conducted maintenance and testing of naval aircraft and supplied aircraft to naval forces for major assaults as far away as the Philippine Islands.[citation needed]
The airport resides at an elevation of 12 feet (4 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 16/34 with a chip seal surface measuring 1,870 by 45 metres (6,135 ft × 148 ft).[1] The airport can accommodate B737 operations and night operations. The airport is sometimes used by private business jets as an alternative stop-over on the route between United States and India.[3]
| Airlines | Destinations |
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| Air Niugini | Kavieng, Lae, Madang, Port Moresby |
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency