Project Will Quadruple Passenger Capacity When It Opens In
April, 2012
St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), a collection of 32
islands and cays in the Southern Caribbean, announced at the 16th
World Route Development Forum that terminal construction will begin
later this year on its new $240 million international airport, the
largest development project ever undertaken by this small country.
The new Argyle International Airport will replace the existing E.T.
Joshua Airport when it opens in the spring of 2012.
With vastly increased capacity, the new airport is expected to
attract direct flights from major North American and European
destinations, and spur increased investment in the country’s
growing hospitality sector. The new terminal building will have
about 123,784 square feet of floor space, and is designed to handle
about 1.4 million passengers per year, nearly four times the
capacity of the current airport.
“The full realization of the potential of our
country’s growth and development hinges on this international
airport. And tourism is likely to be our main foreign exchange
earner for a long time to come,” said Honorable Dr. Ralph
Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“The new Argyle International Airport will be a game
changer for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as it will finally
allow us to attract direct flights from major North American and
European cities,” said Minister of Tourism, Honorable Glen
Beache, who is attending the World Route Development Forum to meet
with airlines and other development partners.
The Argyle International Airport is being built on about 175
acres of land, with a paved 9,000 foot runway. The airport is
designed to accommodate jets as large as Boeing 747-400s.
“Our current airport’s short runway can only
accommodate small planes traveling from neighboring islands, and
its design and location prohibit planes from carrying cargo to
capacity,” said Dr. Rudolph Matthias, CEO of the
International Airport Development Company. “As expansion of
the current airport was technically unfeasible, SVG developed a
plan to build a new international airport.”
The project broke ground on August 13, 2008, and is expected to
be complete by April 2012. The earthworks phase, now underway,
involves moving three mountains, spanning a river, and filling two
valleys to completely level the site. Project teams are currently
working on the site seven days per week, 12 hours per day, using 70
pieces of heavy earth moving equipment.
In the final quarter of 2010, construction of the terminal
building will begin, as well as the paving of the runway, taxiways,
and aprons. The airport is being developed by the International
Airport Development Company (IADC), a private limited liability
company wholly owned by the government of St. Vincent and the
Grenadines. The project team includes the Chatoyer-Che construction
team and CECI Engineering Consultants of Taiwan.