| Bauerfield International Airport | |
| Nativename: | French: Aéroport International Bauerfield |
| Iata: | VLI |
| Icao: | NVVV |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | Airports Vanuatu Limited |
| City-Served: | Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu |
| Elevation-F: | 68 |
| Elevation-M: | 21 |
| Metric-Elev: | yes |
| Coordinates: | -17.6992°N 168.3197°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Vanuatu#Oceania |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Port Vila, Vanuatu |
| Pushpin Label: | VLI/NVVV |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| R1-Number: | 11/29 |
| R1-Length-F: | 8,530 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2,600 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Metric-Rwy: | yes |
Bauerfield International Airport is an international airport located in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. The airport is relatively small in size, but its runway has the capability and length to accept jets up to the Airbus A330. It served as the hub for Vanuatu's now-defunct flag carrier airline, Air Vanuatu.
With Japanese forces establishing bases on Guadalcanal which threatened the sea route between the U.S. and Australia, Admiral King distributed the joint basic plan for the occupation and defense of Efate (the island containing Port Vila) on 20 March 1942. Under its terms the US Army was to defend Efate and support the defense of ships and positions. The US Navy's task was: (1) to construct, administer and operate a naval advance base, seaplane base, and harbor facilities; (2) to support Army forces in the defense of the island; (3) to construct an airfield and at least two outlying dispersal fields; (4) to provide facilities for the operation of seaplane-bombers.[1]
On 25 March 1942, the Army sent about 500 men to Efate from Nouméa, and the 4th Defense Battalion, 45th Marines, arrived on 8 April. Elements of the Seabees 1st Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Efate on 4 May 1942. The Marines had already cleared a coral by runway near Port Vila on part of a plantation owned by Henri Russet. The Seabees expanded this to by .[1]
The airfield was originally named Efate Field, Vila Field or McDonald Field but was later officially named Bauer Field after Lt-Col. Harold W. Bauer, a fighter pilot in the US Marine Corps who was lost at sea on 14 November 1942 after being shot down during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
USAAF units stationed at Efate Field included:
The base was disestablished and abandoned in February 1946.[1]
The airport runway was rebuilt in 2019 after a 3-year construction project funded by the World Bank.[2]