Phoenix Airfield (ICAO: NZFX) is an airstrip in Antarctica opened in early 2017, designed to replace the Pegasus Field's role in serving McMurdo Station.
[4][2] In last few years of Pegasus Field's operation, it had been plagued with warmer temperatures combined with dust and dirt blown in from nearby Black Island, causing excessive melting making the runway unusable at the end of the summer season.
The new runway is about 3 miles northwest of Pegasus, to be out of the wind patterns of the Black Island dust.
Phoenix Airfield underwent operational testing and received its first wheeled landings during the 2016-17 austral summer season.
[9] In subsequent years a closure period of around six weeks for the main runway for wheeled aircraft has been the norm for summer operations, comprising the second half of December and all of January; during these times only ski equipped planes can take off or land at McMurdo.