Mendi Airport — Mendi, Papua New Guinea

MDU serves Mendi, the capital of Southern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea's rugged interior highlands. Mendi Airport is a vital lifeline for a region where mountainous terrain makes road travel slow, unreliable, or impassable during wet seasons. The airstrip primarily handles small turboprop aircraft operated by regional carriers, connecting Mendi to Port Moresby and other highland towns for passengers, mail, and essential cargo like food and medical supplies. Given the province's history of localized tribal conflicts, air access via MDU has often been the safest and fastest way to reach the area. The airport's basic infrastructure, a single short runway with limited terminal facilities, reflects the broader pattern of PNG's highland aviation network built around necessity rather than scale.