Bonriki International Airport, Kiribati
Located in the central Pacific Ocean, Kiribati is a nation of 33 pristine atolls and reef islands that attract tourists for fishing, birdwatching, scuba diving, and other outdoor activities. The republic contains about 100,000 permanent residents spread over 3.5 million square kilometers—only about 800 kilometers of which is land.
Bonriki International Airport is located on South Tarawa, Kiribati’s capital and most populated area consisting of islets connected by causeways. It is the hub of the only two Kiribati airlines—Air Kiribati and Coral Sun Airways. Beginning August 30, 2017, Solomon Airlines and Air Kiribati will operate a new service from Brisbane, Australia, to Bonriki Airport in Tarawa, Kiribati, via Honiara, in the Solomon Islands. The aviation partnership between Solomon Airlines and Air Kiribati aims to strengthen the relationship between the two countries and encourage strong, prosperous economies for both nations.
Bonriki Airport, which sits about 3 m (9 ft) above sea level on a coral atoll, contains just one runway—a challenge when attempting to increase the number of arrivals and departures per day. Carmanah provided the Government of Kiribati with 107 runway lights and 41 taxiway lights via distributor Orion Solar to allow the airport to add safe evening flights.
In addition, the system was ordered in May, 2017 and operating by mid-June— one of the fastest implementations of airfield lighting in the world. The speedy installation is partly because the solarpowered lights were installed without requiring trenching, which would have been difficult or impossible to achieve with the hard-coral ground that is best not disturbed due to groundwater issues. In addition to easy installation, easy maintenance was also a necessity: the lights are built tough to last in remote locations like this one without requiring frequent battery changes or complex and costly repairs.
The new flight service will leave Brisbane every Wednesday, stopping in Honiara before arriving in Tarawa, and make the return journey every Thursday. More evening flights—like this one, which arrives at 8 PM in Tarawa—are made possible with proper runway lights that allow for safe arrivals and departures at any time of day or night.
