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The $259 million Argyle International Airport on the eastern side of St. Vincent opened Feb. 13, about six years behind schedule.
The airport began operations with scheduled inter-Caribbean flights on LIAT and Grenadine Air Alliance (a partnership between SVG Airlines and Mustique Airlines). Two charter flights from New York also arrived.
Ground was broken on the airport in August 2008. Every year since 2011, completion dates had been announced and missed due to construction delays.
Construction of Argyle was a major undertaking, according to Glen Beache, CEO of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority.
“The project involved moving three mountains, spanning a river and filling two valleys to level the site,” Beache said.
Although no major carriers have announced scheduled service to the airport, the opening means that St. Vincent can receive large international aircraft thanks to a runway 9,000 feet long and 250 feet wide.
The 171,000-square-foot terminal building is designed to handle up to 1.5 million passengers a year. Stayover arrivals in St. Vincent and the Grenadines totaled about 65,000 in 2016.
The airport is the second solar-powered airport in the Caribbean, following V.C. Bird Airport in Antigua. Facilities include two jet bridges, restaurants, bars and retail shops.
Beache described the airport as a “game-changer for the region, not only for opening up St. Vincent to international travelers but also for enabling the diaspora outside the Caribbean to travel home more easily.”
E. T. Joshua Airport will be demolished and plans call for city called New Kingston to be built on the site.
Sourse: travelweekly.com
