Air & Sea
800 Feet and Counting
Finally, A Runway Worthy Of A Nation
Landing in Pohnpei, capital of the Federated States of Micronesia, has always been a white-knuckle, grip the armrests experience.
The 6,000-foot runway, built on landfill in what was once a mangrove swamp, looks like the deck a toy aircraft carrier from the air. It seems even shorter when you touch down in a Continental Micronesia Boeing 737-800, brakes screeching and the fuselage shuddering as the jet engines howl in reverse.
So news that the government of Japan will fund an 800 foot extension of Pohnpei International Airport's only runway is good news for travelers, and even better news for businesses in the usually somnolent state. The project will cost an estimated $30 million, and is scheduled to be completed within 19 to 24 months.
What's the difference between a 6,000-foot and a 6, 800-foot runway? It's the difference between being able to land a small Boeing 737 or a wide body Boeing 767. Put another way - the longer runway is specifically designed to allow non-stop flights with a B-767 from Tokyo to Pohnpei.
The Pohnpei runway project is one of the largest ever approved by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in the Federated States of Micronesia, says Shin-ichi Hamada, JICA's resident representative in Pohnpei. And Hamada says, unlike many JICA projects, which rely on Japan-based construction firms to compete for the work, this one will be open to bidders from all countries.
Remarkably, the $30 million runway extension project isn't the only one at the Pohnpei airport. The U.S. government is funding $54 million in improvements to the airport, including new parking aprons, a fire station, and an expanded terminal.
"Aviation safety is the primary reason for these improvements," says Ieske Iehsi, general manager of the Pohnpei Port Authority. While the airport improvements and extension projects have been talked about for years at the state and national levels, it was only under Iehsi's administration that they came to fruition.
There are some on Pohnpei who are worried that non-stop charter flights from Japan, which could be flying to the island within two years, will forever change the place. But they're probably also lamenting the passing of the former Pohnpei terminal, a colorful thatched hut perched at the edge of a crushed coral runway.
The reality is that while the projects will bring change, the FSM is the last Micronesia-region nation or territory to have an airfield that can handle wide-body jets. When the Pohnpei airport projects are completed sometime in 2010, the result will be opportunities for development that were unthinkable just a few years ago.
