IN the afternoon early in recent April, the 35-seat CN-235 plane we had boarded landed at the Binaka Airport, Gunung Sitoli, Nias. There was a feeling of relief when setting foot on the airfield after about an hour of flying in the small aircraft over the sea separating the Island of Nias from Sumatra.

Transportation to Nias is indeed still limited. Despite the daily flight schedule, only aircraft of the Cassa, Cessna and Fokker types are capable