Faleolo International Airport is an airport located west of Apia, the capital of Samoa. Until 1984, Faleolo could not accommodate jets larger than a Boeing 737. Services to the United States, Australia, or New Zealand, could only land at Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa. Since the airport's expansion most international traffic now uses Faleolo. Until 31 December 2019 small turboprop aircraft used to connect American Samoa and Samoa from Fagali'i Airport in the eastern suburbs of Apia. With the closure of Fagali’i Airport, all aircraft now use Faleolo.
History
Faleolo Airfield
The site and location of the current airport was originally known as Faleolo Airfield. It was constructed by the United States NavySeaBees of 1st Construction Battalion after war broke out in the Pacific in 1942. It became an auxiliary field of U.S. Naval Station Tutuila in the Samoa Defense Group Area during the Pacific War. Faleolo Airfield was completed by the Seabees in July 1942 and U.S. Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-111 was moved from Tafuna Airfield to Faleolo Airfield after the aircraft runway was completed to protect the islands of Upolu and Savai'i from an anticipated Japanese invasion. The original runway was x and was extended to x in March 1943 to accommodate a taxiway and space for basing of up to 57 fighter aircraft. Airfield support buildings and two hangars were also constructed and completed in March 1943. Until 1984, Faleolo could not accommodate jets larger than a Boeing 737. Services to the United States, Australia, or New Zealand, could only land at Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa. Since the airport's expansion, the Airport now caters for most international traffic arriving from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Tonga, Hawaii and USA.
Facilities
The airport is at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 08/26 with an asphalt surface measuring. The Pavement Classification Number for the runway is 058FBXT. Faleolo Tower has some jurisdiction over the airspace of American Samoa and Tonga as well as its own airspace. It is assisted by the tower at Nadi, Fiji and the whole area is under Oceanic Control from Auckland, New Zealand.
In 2000, Air New Zealand flight NZ60 nearly overshot the runway due to a faulty instrument landing system, which had been accidentally damaged by a digger. The pilots took a number of measures to successfully prevent an accident, which were incorporated into a training video. Key points from the video that averted disaster included the pilots' unease about the ILS glideslope capture, the conflict between the aircraft's altitude and the functioning Distance Measuring Equipment, and their familiarity with the approach into Faleolo which caused them to realise they were not where they were supposed to be, had the ILS been functioning correctly. For these reasons they initiated a go around, and used the VOR/DME equipment for the second and successful approach.
