Yes, exactly 'Other airports are also available' (before the Gatwickists get on my case...)

My first thought was the old terminal at Katherine, Katherine, not Tindal.

Re Katherine: Your're heading in the right direction (generally) from your hometown (as per pprune) but further to go...

North Queensland?

Pacific Islands ?

It is on an island but this island is not usually considered one of the Pacific Islands.

Not in Australia, though Australia has a close association with this island.

If not significantly narrowed down today I'll post another photo.

TIWI Islands, Bathurst Airport?

John E: This airport (recently modernised and expanded since the photo) is not part of Australia. But you're getting closer...

The old terminal; at Dili, then East Timor. {But the foliage confuses me. and it was sealed when I was there in 2000.


MJG

MJG: AHA! Right country, wrong airport (which doesn't leave many other choices).

Three other choices; I’ll start with Baucau.

John: Good guess -- but No. Baucau had a long paved runway before I got there (in 2000) -- because the Indonesians wanted a military capable airport far away from Dili.

In that case most likely Oecusse, which had a relatively recent rebuild.

Nope -- but flying to Oecusse was my favourite trip. Flying along the coast was so damn gorgeus (still is, I assume, but haven't been back in more than a dozen years).
Three more to go. The town served by this airport is famous as the site of a very nasty incident during the bad days.

Suai WPDB. Lots of money spent there by the Chinese.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f41da65372.jpg
New terminal and tower.

Suai (WPDB) is correct! Site of the Suai Church Massacre -- a horrible day in a horrible year in East Timor. Thanks to the new runway and terminal it looks a lot more like a real airport now. Memories of water buffalo, motorcycles, and dogs galore wandering the strip of packed earth that was termed a runway. And a very late go around... :bored:

All yours Chimbu!

I knew it was not Bacau because when I did the inspection there and gathered data for the IAP design I was told by an old guy who had been at the airport for years that "you Australian were responsible for the development of Bacau and two other runways in the 1960's when you purchased the F111." White coral strip which, like all the others the Russians built in that era, will still be there in good condition when the dinosaurs return. Not a good time to go there but take a look at K100 north of Mogadishu if you get the chance - same structure and same great surface after many, many years.

Very obviously a military airfield at Bacau with ORPs and quick access taxiways from the military side.

When we were at Bacau in 2000 the lunch choices were very difficult: Great curry with the Pakistani's on their side of the runway or excellent freshly cooked Thai food from their sustainable gardens near the tower.

We suggested changing Bacau to be the POE for the Country with both a good sea and air port but memories of the massacre there were still fresh and will linger for many years..


MJG.

Open house.

While we wait for someone to take up the Open House...

Re MGJ's comments, I can confirm that when we did an assessment of Timor-Leste airports / airfields in 2005, WPEC (Baucau) runway surface was in remarkably good condition, expecially considering it had received no ongoing manintenance in years.
Here's a pic taken on final at Baucau in 2005, where the site of the crash of an IL-76 two years earlier can still be clearly seen.
Baucau trivia: It's the site of the only known hijacking of an Australian military aircraft (Sept. 1975).

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c03a94d900.jpg

Just going through my holiday snaps from years gone by, and this popped up.

https://s0bang.am.files.1drv.com/y4m...&cropmode=none