George F. L. Charles Airport

George F. L. Charles Airport (commonly known as Vigie Airport) (IATA: SLU, ICAO: TLPC) is the smaller of the two airports in Saint Lucia, the other being Hewanorra International Airport. It is located 2 km (1.2 mi) north of Castries, the capital city. George F. L. Charles Airport is managed by the Saint Lucia Air and Seaports Authority (SLASPA). Its runway runs parallel to a pristine beach, Vigie Beach, which is a popular tourist attraction.

George F. L. Charles Airport

Aéroport George F. L. Charles
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of Saint Lucia
OperatorSaint Lucia Air & Sea Ports Authority
ServesCastries, Saint Lucia
LocationVigie, Castries
Opened1941 (1941)
Hub forWiggins Airways[1]
Time zoneAST (UTC−04:00)
Elevation AMSL22 ft / 7 m
Coordinates14°01′13″N 060°59′35″W
Websitehttp://www.stlucia-airport.com/
Map
SLU
Location in Saint Lucia
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 1,898 6,227 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface
m ft
H1 16 60 Asphalt
Statistics (2016)
Passengers195,859
Passenger change 15–161.2%
Aircraft movements17,569
Movements change 15–162.51%
Source: DAFIF[2] 2012 SLASPA Statistics

History

British West Indies Airways (BWIA) was serving Vigie Field as early as 1950 with flights operated one or more days of the week to Barbados, Grenada, Port of Spain, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Antigua and St. Kitts operated with Lockheed Lodestar prop aircraft.[3] By 1965, BWIA was operating daily flights into the airport with Vickers Viscount turboprop airliners on a round trip routing of Port of Spain - Grenada - Barbados - St. Lucia - Martinique - Guadeloupe - Antigua.[4] The same year, Leeward Islands Air Transport was operating a round trip flight six days a week on a routing of Antigua - Guadeloupe - Dominica - Martinique - St. Lucia - St. Vincent with Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprop aircraft.[5]

The airport was renamed on 4 August 1997 in honour of Saint Lucia politician Sir George Frederick Lawrence Charles (1916–2004).[6]

Traffic

On average, George F. L. Charles Airport handles 32,000 flights per year carrying 394,000 passengers. Most of these flights operate with turboprop aircraft such as the ATR 72-500 or the Bombardier Dash 8.

George F. L. Charles Airport entrance

The airport currently has no scheduled jet service. All jet service into St. Lucia, including transatlantic flights, operates at the present time via Hewanorra International Airport, located on the southeast portion of the island.

Previous jet service

The airport previously had scheduled passenger jet service flown by Caribair (Puerto Rico) which in 1968 was operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jetliners on a daily basis with nonstop flights to Antigua and Barbados with direct jet service to Port of Spain, Trinidad, St. Maarten, San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Croix and St. Thomas.[7] In 1995, Carib Express was operating British Aerospace BAe 146-100 jet flights into the airport nonstop from Barbados, Dominica and St. Vincent as well as one stop BAe 146 service from Port of Spain and St. Kitts.[8] Another previous jet operator was BWIA West Indies Airways (operating as BWIA International at the time) which in 1996 was operating McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jetliners between the airport and Miami twice a week and also twice a week between the airport and New York JFK Airport with both of these direct, no change of plane flights making an intermediate stop in Antigua as well as flying MD-80 service several days a week nonstop to Barbados with these flights then continuing on to Port of Spain.[9]

Vigie Beach, immediately opposite the airport check-in and departure lounge area.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinationsRefs
Air Antilles Barbados, Dominica, Fort-de-France [10]
Air Caraïbes Fort-de-France [11]
Caribbean Airlines Port of Spain [12]
InterCaribbean Airways Barbados, Dominica [13]
LIAT Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Saint Vincent [14]

Cargo
AirlinesDestinationsRefs
Air Cargo Carriers Saint Kitts, Saint Vincent [15]
Ameriflight Aguadilla, San Juan [16]
DHL Aviation Fort-de-France, Grenada, Saint Vincent [17]
FedEx Feeder Fort-de-France, Grenada, Saint Vincent [18]
Passageway at George F. L. Charles Airport, in Saint Lucia

Other facilities

The airport houses the George Charles Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority,[19] General Aviation Services, and the Island Flyers Club.

The airport offers an RNAV and NDB approach only on Runway 9. Landings on Runway 27 are strictly visual.

Accidents and incidents

On 8 November 2015, a Beechcraft Model 99, registered N7994H, veered off the runway into a grassy area at George F. L. Charles Airport after the aircraft's right landing gear malfunctioned. The sole occupant of the aircraft, the pilot, was not harmed. Following the incident, Hummingbird Air suspended all operations, and the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority launched an investigation.

George F. L. Charles Airport apron from the passenger's passageway

References
  1. https://wiggins-air.com/route-map/
  2. Airport information for TLPC at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
  3. http://www.airliners.net, Dec. 14, 1950 BWIA timetable
  4. http://www.timetableimages.com, Dec. 15, 1965 BWIA timetable
  5. http://www.timetableimages.com, Dec. 15, 1965 BWIA timetable, LIAT flight schedules
  6. "St Lucia government press release concerning re-naming" (Press release). stlucia.gov.lc. Archived from the original on 2005-11-26.
  7. http://www.timetableimages.com, July 1, 1968 Caribair system timetable
  8. April 2, 1995 OAG North American Edition Desktop Guide, St. Lucia flight schedules
  9. April 7, 1996 OAG Pocket Flight Guide, St. Lucia, Miami and New York JFK flight schedules
  10. "Destinations". Air Antilles. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  11. "Destinations". Air Caraibes. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  12. "Destinations". Caribbean Airlines. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  13. "Flight Schedules". InterCaribbean Airways. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  14. "Schedule". LIAT Airlines. Archived from the original on 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  15. "Services". Air Cargo Carriers. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  16. "Fleets and Bases". Ameriflight. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  17. "Locations". DHL Express. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  18. "Locations". Mountain Air Cargo. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  19. "George Charles Oustation." Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority Retrieved on 23 December 2012.
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