St Vincent and the Grenadines to get international airport

The islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines (Constituency a monarchy with HM The Queen as the Head of State) is to build a major airport capable of taking both Airbus A380 and Boeing 747.  The US$250m project is the single largest ever investment for the archipelago of 32 islands with funds sourced from a diverse range of governments including Cuba, Venezuela, Taiwan – which is paying for the terminal – Trinidad, Qatar, Malaysia and Iran.  The current gateway airport is limited to Airbus A320 series and Boeing 737 size.

Managed by a newly formed coalition of investors under the umbrella group of the International Airport Development Company, the project is expected to be complete by late 2013 with capacity to handle direct flights from Europe and up to one million passengers per year.  Amenities will include a restaurant and a number of retail outlets.  Glen Beache, CEO of the Tourism Authority, says: “The new airport will make access for aircraft up to 747 in size and whilst we will never be a mass market destination we anticipate at least one or two larger flights per week from America, Canada and the UK.”

Up until now neighbour Barbados has been the gateway to the islands, followed by a local flight. www.stvincent.com.vc

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