Argyle International Airport

Argyle International Airport
IATA: SVD – ICAO: TVSA
Summary
Airport type	Public
Serves	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Location	Argyle
Coordinates	13°09′23″N 061°09′01″W / 13.15639°N 61.15028°WCoordinates: 13°09′23″N 061°09′01″W / 13.15639°N 61.15028°W
Map
Argyle International Airport Location in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 04/22 2,743 8,999 Asphalt
Source: General Specifications.[1] Coordinates are approximate.

Argyle International Airport is a yet-to-be completed government project that has been under construction in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for over eight years. The project broke ground in 2008. According to the International Airport Development Company (IADC) website, "the opening of the airport is imminent". The IADC specifically states that it is lifting that quote from the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in his October 27, 2016 Independence Address. This marks a naked about-turn in the IADC's habit of making multiple mangled promises that the facility would be opened on several particular dates. Citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are awaiting the grand opening of the largest capital project in the history of the country^[2] The IADC had previously forecast - and missed - annual completion dates of 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The company appears to be successfully on track to hit its 6th missed-completion annual target date as 2016 draws to a close and the airport remains unopened and incomplete.

Costs

Government sources had originally stated that the airport project would cost around US$240 million or 700 million East Caribbean dollars and would replace the existing E.T. Joshua Airport. Other sources cite a figure of one billion ($1,000,000,000) EC dollars as being nearer to the true cost of the project. Some sources indicate that, when complete, the airport will have a passenger capacity nearly four times that of the current working facility, the E.T. Joshua Airport.^[3]

Overview

Attempts by the previous government led by Sir James F. Mitchell, Premier and Prime Minister of St.Vincent and the Grenadines for 19 years, (premier 1972-1974, prime minister 1984-2001) to lengthen the E.T. Joshua Airport runway were unsuccessful. Engineers had advised that the runway could have been extended by 2000 feet into the sea, as requested by American Eagle. At a projected cost of US $50 million, this would have allowed regional jets, with service as far as Miami and South America with up to 120 passengers, to safely fly in and out of E.T. Joshua Airport.^[4] According to Prime Minister Mitchell, his government invited tenders for the final design at Arnos Vale. He stated, "I turned over the contract documents for a successful tender by a Canadian company to my successor [Arnhim Ulric Eustace] to sign, but he decided to wait until the next election and cancelled the visit arranged for Kuwati officials".

Visitors and Vincentians who wish to travel extra-regionally continue to make connecting flights from E.T. Joshua Airport via Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados, Hewanorra International Airport in St. Lucia or the Maurice Bishop International Airport in Grenada.

Choice of Location

Besides the E.T. Joshua Airport and its possible upgrade and runway extension, two other sites were considered for a new airport to accommodate more passengers and longer flights: Argyle on the eastern side of the island and Kitchen to the southeast. Argyle was selected and work began on August 8, 2008. According to the Ralph Gonsalves administration Cuba, Turkey, Iran, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Austria and Mexico are helping with the construction of the airport. The runway is expected to be 9,000 feet long and 150 feet wide.

The new airport was originally scheduled to open in 2011. As of February 2016 the project has cost in excess of EC $729 million with increases in costs expected and has suffered from many delays. Paving on the runway is still incomplete.^[5] This schedule has been updated to reflect an opening date of late February or early March 2016.^[6] Critics have stated that it is highly unlikely that the airport will be completed in February or March 2016 and that the IADC will miss yet another promised completion date.

Flight/Landing Test At Argyle International Airport

Although the Argyle International Airport is not legally ready, nor is it regionally or internationally certified for schedule passenger flights, there have been numerous flight and landing tests at the new airport.^{[7][8][9][10][11] [12]}

Opening Challenges at Argyle International Airport

There have been numerous delays in opening of Argyle International Airport, from weather delays to vital staff members quitting to important deadlines. A Vincentian engineer is quoted as saying the airport won't be complete until "at least 2018".^[13][14]

Controversy

Some observers have questioned whether St. Vincent and the Grenadines needs an international airport. If it does, they ask, can the country afford to build - and maintain - an international airport while running an EC$151 million deficit as of February 2016. All of this with public sector expenses increasing (Prime Minister Gonsalves announced in parliament in January 2016 that wages and salaries for central government employees will experience a "huge increase" in 2016 by 7.3 million EC dollars) taking the total to EC $281.8 million. The government also owes the private sector an amount nearing 100 million East Caribbean dollars.

In an "historic" address on August 8, 2005, Prime Minister Gonsalves stated that, "Foreign investors often shy away from St. Vincent and the Grenadines when the limitations of air access arise due to the absence of an international airport". Critics have responded saying that the prime minister's statement is invalid and incorrect: on the contrary, many foreign concerns have invested in St. Vincent and the Grenadines from as early as the 1960s, after the Arnos Vale airport was constructed (and later renamed in memory of the humble E.T. Joshua). These investments include the highly-successful Mustique Company which also uses a well-organised, very effective shuttle from Grantley Adams International in Barbados direct to Mustique - which has its own appropriately-sized airstrip. It is a historical fact that the airstrip on Mustique was deliberately restricted in size as a function of the vision for Mustique as a very private, ultra-luxury destination that, therefore, would not want to facilitate any aircraft with a capacity to carry more that six persons at a time to Mustique. Mustique Company runs an internationally renowned, private, exclusive resort - one of the most successful globally - catering to the world's wealthiest - and has done so for 50 years - all without an international airport in St. Vincent. This was also accomplished by the several mid to high-end tourism plants in Bequia, Union island and Canouan (which all have airports as well).

References

1. http://www.svgiadc.com/images/Publication/newsletter%202015%202nd%20qt.pdf
2. "Major hotel brands courting SVG; airport pushed to March 2016". Travelweek. 12 November 2015.
3. "St. Vincent and the Grenadines moves mountains for airport". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
4. Mitchell, Sir James (2012). St. Vincent and the Grenadines the Ungovernable. p. 7.
5. "Private sector didn't expect Argyle airport to be completed in 2014". 16 February 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
6. http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14092&ArticleId=2400455 Latin American Harald Tribune
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmyqkH8NQek Argyle International Airport Landing Test. Published on Nov 20, 2015
8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8sZAr_l9Ds Published on Nov 21, 2015
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0QM-SAY_zk Four Planes Land at Argyle International Airport Published on Nov 19, 2015
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5_HhGoy3yo 4 PLANES LANDING IN ARGYLE | Melissa Published on Nov 19, 2015
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbGzTYWHlhs Test flight lands at Argyle Airport Published on Nov 19, 2015
12. St. Vincent and the Grenadines,The Ungovernable, Sir James Mitchell
13. http://antiguaobserver.com/another-delay-in-the-opening-of-international-airport/
14. http://www.iwnsvg.com/2016/10/12/argyle-airport-wont-open-until-2018-engineer/