Title – Henderson Airport
Date – September 1999
Location - Honiara – Guadalcanal – Solomon Islands
Henderson Airport is the Solomon Islands major International Airport, located on the island of Guadalcanal. It’s no Heathrow and where you have the advantage of not needing to know which terminal you are at, you also must be aware that a lack of flights landing here means that for most of the day it is closed down and locked up. If you happen to be flying into the domestic terminal the same day to transfer onto a later international flight, it means a long wait outside with only the toads for company.
The country advice given by the FCO for the Solomon Islands at the time I travelled was that there was civil conflict on the island and the worst of the fighting was near Henderson International Airport, needless to say this meant nerves played a part in the anticipated wait. However further investigation in the planning of this trip involved calling the Australian Ambassador (the only real embassy on the ground in the Solomon Islands), who effectively said that the fighting was sporadic and taking place in the villages at night, with almost no weapons being used except old second world war guns that had been rusting for 50 years; this gave me a little more confidence.
Beyond The Blue runs Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops in which we review destination countries and the current political situations within them, as just one area of vital importance in the planning process. We highly recommend other sources of information to those attending including the FCO web site, that offers exceptional information to potential travellers and whose advice should always be followed.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Date – September 1999
Location - Honiara – Guadalcanal – Solomon Islands
Henderson Airport is the Solomon Islands major International Airport, located on the island of Guadalcanal. It’s no Heathrow and where you have the advantage of not needing to know which terminal you are at, you also must be aware that a lack of flights landing here means that for most of the day it is closed down and locked up. If you happen to be flying into the domestic terminal the same day to transfer onto a later international flight, it means a long wait outside with only the toads for company.
The country advice given by the FCO for the Solomon Islands at the time I travelled was that there was civil conflict on the island and the worst of the fighting was near Henderson International Airport, needless to say this meant nerves played a part in the anticipated wait. However further investigation in the planning of this trip involved calling the Australian Ambassador (the only real embassy on the ground in the Solomon Islands), who effectively said that the fighting was sporadic and taking place in the villages at night, with almost no weapons being used except old second world war guns that had been rusting for 50 years; this gave me a little more confidence.
Beyond The Blue runs Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops in which we review destination countries and the current political situations within them, as just one area of vital importance in the planning process. We highly recommend other sources of information to those attending including the FCO web site, that offers exceptional information to potential travellers and whose advice should always be followed.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
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