Butaritari Airport

{{more footnotes|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox airport | name = Butaritari Airport | nativename = | nativename-a = | nativename-r = | image = | image-width = | caption = | IATA = BBG | ICAO = NGTU | FAA = | LID = | type = | owner = | operator = | owner-oper = | city-served = | location = [[Butaritari]], [[Kiribati]] | elevation-f = 5 | elevation-m = 2 | coordinates = {{Coord|03|05|11|N|172|48|41|E|type:airport|display=inline,title}} | website = | metric-elev = | metric-rwy = | r1-number = 07/25 | r1-length-f = 3500 | r1-length-m = | r1-surface = Asphalt | stat-year = | stat1-header = | stat1-data = | stat2-header = | stat2-data = | footnotes = Source: World Aero Data [http://www.world-airport-codes.com/kiribati/butaritari-1137.html] }} '''Butaritari Airport''' {{airport codes|BBG|NGTU}} is an airport on [[Butaritari]] in the [[Pacific Ocean]] island nation of [[Kiribati]].

==History== Butaritari Atoll Airport was built in Kiribati during [[World War II]] by the United States after seizing the island from the Japanese. Construction lasted approximately one month, from November 20 to mid-December, of 1943. During the war, the airport was known as ''Makin Airfield'', ''Butaritari Airfield'', ''Antakana Airfield'', or ''Starmann Field''.

The airfield was the base of operations for the [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[Seventh Air Force]] [[41st Bombardment Group]] which flew four squadrons of [[B-25 Mitchell]] medium bombers. Missions from the airfield were flown against Japanese shipping, bypassing islands in the [[Marshall Islands|Marshalls]] and [[Caroline Islands]]. In addition to the 41st, the 43d Fighter Squadron ([[15th Airlift Wing|15th Fighter Group]]) flew [[P-39 Airacobra]]s and the 531st Bomb Squadron ([[380th Bombardment Group]]) flew [[A-24 Dauntless]] light attack aircraft from the airfield in late 1943 and early 1944.

The Americans pulled out at the end of 1944, abandoning the airfield. After the war, the airfield was turned into a commercial airport.

==Airlines and destinations==  {{Airport-dest-list | [[Air Kiribati]] | [[Makin Airport|Makin]], [[Bonriki International Airport|Tarawa]] }}

==See also== * [[United States Army Air Forces in the Central Pacific Area|USAAF in the Central Pacific]] *[[Naval Base Gilbert Islands]]

==References== {{reflist}} * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. {{ISBN|0-89201-092-4}}. * {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= December 20, 2016 |edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}

==External links== {{commons category}} {{USAAF 7th Air Force World War II}} {{authority control}}

[[Category:Airports in Kiribati]] [[Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II]] [[Category:Military airbases established in 1943]] [[Category:Military airbases closed in 1944]]