Sections of the runway at the 8-year-old Argyle International Airport continue to break up as jets land and take off, forcing continuous repairs.
Issues with the runway began to emerge even before the airport began operating in February 2017.
However, they came into starker focus earlier this year when an aviation sector worker who uses the airport frequently said that the government should address the issues there and stop acting as if the aerodrome is above public criticism.
On Monday, a section of the runway was torn up as Virgin Atlantic’s flight was departing for London.
The runway was repaired that night.
However, when Virgin landed at the airport on Wednesday, it dug up the repairs that had been done on Monday night, forcing the delay of other international arrivals at the airport.
“The planes were holding in the air while they compacted material on the runway,” a source told iWitness News on condition of strict confidentiality.
The government has remained largely silent about the cause of the recurring issues at the runway of the EC$700 million airport.
However, this week, Cuban engineers who arrived in St. Vincent on Sept. 5, for what the government said was to help with the expansion and modernisation works at AIA, were among the people who responded to the damaged runway.
The government has said that while in St. Vincent, the team, which is headed by Director General of the Cuban Airports and Air Services Company, Juan Carlos Quintana, would be stationed at the AIA and would deliver hands-on training and knowledge to AIA staff.
The team’s tenure is projected to last 12 months, and the specialists were expected to provide direct coaching, technical guidance, and structured training programmes to build internal capacity across departments.
In February 2017, days before the airport opened, work was done to correct what then Minister of Transport and Works, Sen. Julian Francis, said were “weak areas” in the runway.
The work was being done even as the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority had given approval two weeks earlier for the airport to begin operating on Feb. 14, 2017.
The airport, the port…..What’s next?
HURRY BIRDS 🐦 DON’T BUILD GOOD NESTS🪹 !!!!
I agree with you Vincy Lawyer
I hope SVG will be able to resolve these issues.
Weren’t you the same people saying the government is talking so long to build the airport. Bunch of hypocrites and one sided agenda people own and comment on this page.
I don’t believe giving this government more time (delivered five years later than the stated completion date) and the associated more money (on top of the 700 million ec (ouch!)) that comes with time would have made any difference to the quality of the outcome. It’s a vanity project rather than a practical solution to international aviation and local economic issues.