Henderson Field — now Honiara International Airport — was the strategic centrepiece of the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese had begun building it when the Americans landed in August 1942 and captured it in a surprise assault. Keeping it operational under Japanese bombing and shelling became the defining challenge of the campaign for the next six months.
Today it functions as a normal if small international airport, but a handful of memorials and markers around the perimeter acknowledge its history. The runway alignment and general layout are essentially unchanged from 1942. If you have time between flights, the airport area is worth a short walk — it is one of the few places where you can stand on the actual ground where the battle was decided.