Yap International Airport
Yap International Airport
Yap International Airport (IATA: YAP, ICAO: PTYA, FAA LID: T11) is an airport on Colonia, the main island of the State of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. The airport is serviced by United Airlines from Guam. Pacific Missionary Aviation makes periodic trips to the outer island airfields of Ulithi Atoll and Fais Island. Woleai airfield is currently closed for repairs.
Location
9.499°N, 138.083°E · 28 m s. n. m. (91 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 They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation.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
Yap International Airport was completed on the island of Waqaab (Yap) and opened in 1988 and currently serves as the only operational airport on Yap Proper.
The former (old) Yap Airport was originally built by the Japanese in WWII as Yap Airfield, being completed in May 1944.
On April 1, 1944, US Navy aircraft from Task Force 58 sighted Colonia and bombed it. This raid was conducted at the same as air raids were being conducted on the Palau Islands. There were however no aircraft based yet as the 26th Air Flotilla were to based at Colonia after it was completed. In May, there still were no aircraft based. On May 3, the IJN issued Combined Fleet Operations Order No.76, effectively calling for the 265 Kokutai (Air Group), which mainly had Model 21 Zeros and 523 Kokutai with D4Ys to rebase themselves at Yap before the last ten days of May. As part of this, 261 and 263 Kokutai as well as the Kokutai 321 which had night fighters would designate Yap as a dispersal base for them. On May 16, the 202nd and 503rd Kokutai were rebased at Yap. Towards the end of May, half of the Judys from the 523rd were ordered to Colonia.
A few days after an air raid on the Marinas from US Navy aircraft on the 11th of June, they attacked Colonia. As part of the Battle of the Philippine Sea, aircraft from Colonia conducted strikes against the US Carriers. On the 17th, an airstrike of 31 Zeros, 17 Judys and 2 P1Y Frances aircraft were sent to attack ships at the Charan Kanoa area. They damaged LST-84 and despite 44 FM-2 Wildcats in the air, they scored a bomb hit on the escort carrier, USS Fanshaw Bay CVE-70, causing serious damage and killing several onboard.
Yap was repeatedly attacked from April 1 on until August 10, 1944 when it was deemed neutralized. After August 2, the remaining 8 usable aircraft were sent to Palau.
Units of the IJNAS based at Yap included the:
202 Kokutai – A6M Zero (Late May 1944 – July 1944) – Disbanded
261 Kokutai – A6M Zero (Late May 1944 – July 1944) – Disbanded
265 Kokutai – A6M Zero (Mid June 1944 – July 1944) – Disbanded
523 Kokutai – D4Y Judy (Late May 1944 – July 1944) – Disbanded
201 Kokutai Buntai S306 (Formed from the survivors of the 263 and 343 Kokutai) July 16, 1944 – August 2, 1944 – Disbanded
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: David Weekly from Cupertino, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0 · 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). Yap International Airport (YAP). Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/YAP
MLA
“Yap International Airport (YAP).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/YAP. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Yap International Airport (YAP).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/YAP.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Yap International Airport (YAP). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/YAP (Accessed: 23 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_yap,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Yap International Airport (YAP)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/YAP},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/YAP}},
urldate = {2026-10-23},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-23}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/YAP |title=Yap International Airport (YAP) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-23 |language=en}}