Bauerfield International Airport — Port Vila, Vanuatu

VLI sits on Efate Island just outside Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, and traces its origins to a wartime airstrip built by American forces during the Pacific campaign of the 1940s, when the archipelago was still known as the New Hebrides. The field takes its name from a US Marine aviator who died during the Guadalcanal campaign, reflecting the base's support role in that Allied offensive. Today it functions as Vanuatu's principal gateway, linking Port Vila with Australian cities such as Brisbane and Sydney, plus Auckland and Nadi in neighboring Fiji. Tourism drives much of the traffic, as visitors arrive for Efate's beaches, diving sites, and cruise-ship excursions along the coast. The single-runway airport also handles domestic flights scattered across Vanuatu's outer islands, many reachable only by small turboprop aircraft given the country's rugged volcanic terrain and limited road networks.