Bonriki International Airport
Bonriki International Airport
Bonriki International Airport (IATA: TRW, ICAO: NGTA) is an international airport in Kiribati, serving as the main gateway to the country. It is located in its capital, South Tarawa, which is a group of islets in the atoll of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, precisely on Bonriki. Fiji's national carrier, Fiji Airways, connects Kiribati with Nadi, which is Fiji Airways' hub and Fiji's main international gateway. Nauru Airlines flies to Nauru International Airport, continuing to Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands. The airport is the hub of the only two Kiribati airlines, flag carrier Air Kiribati and the 2009-established Coral Sun Airways, with both airlines mainly flying domestic routes within the Gilbert Islands. Air Kiribati and Coral Sun Airways both serve all 16 other airports in the Gilbert Islands, but not all these destinations are flown directly from Tarawa.
Location
1.382°N, 173.147°E · 3 m s. n. m. (9 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 1
Flight information
Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.
History
The airport was built in December 1943 (1943-12) by United States Navy Seabees and was named "Mullinix Field", in honor of Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinix, who died in the sinking of the USS Liscome Bay on 24 November 1943 after it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the Gilbert Islands.
Almost immediately after the completion of the runway, it became the nexus of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) operations from Tarawa, as the runway at nearby Hawkins Field on Betio was too short for safe bomber operations. The longer runway at Mullinix became the base for the VII Bomber Command Headquarters, which directed operations against Japanese forces in the Marshall Islands. In addition, the USAAF stationed the B-24 Liberator-equipped 11th Bombardment Group and B-25 Mitchell-equipped 41st Bombardment Group at the airfield.
In April 1944, the land-based units moved forward to Kwajalein Airfield in the Marshall Islands, and shortly thereafter, Mullinix was reduced to an emergency airfield. By the end of the war, the Americans abandoned the facilities and the airfield was turned into a civilian airport.
Airlines operating here · 2
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: Bwatieta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Bonriki International Airport (TRW). Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TRW
MLA
“Bonriki International Airport (TRW).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TRW. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Bonriki International Airport (TRW).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TRW.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Bonriki International Airport (TRW). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TRW (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_trw,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Bonriki International Airport (TRW)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TRW},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TRW}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TRW |title=Bonriki International Airport (TRW) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}