AIA to close for runway repairs amidst recurring holes

Argyle International Airport, St.  Vincent and the Grenadines’ main aerodrome, will close for about 18 hours beginning Saturday evening for what its management has described as “scheduled maintenance” amidst the ongoing challenge of holes opening up in a section of the runway almost as quickly as they are repaired.

The development comes as Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves disclosed that his government had been conducting repairs on the runway every seven to 10 days.

The airport said in a statement on Thursday that the aerodrome will be closed to flight operations from Saturday, Dec. 13, at 6:30 p.m. to Sunday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m.

“Passengers scheduled to travel during this period are kindly asked to contact their respective airlines or travel agencies to confirm flight status and to make any necessary rebooking or alternative travel arrangements,” the airport said.

“AIA Inc. sincerely apologises for any inconvenience this temporary closure may cause and thanks the public for their understanding and cooperation as we continue to uphold the highest standards of safety and operational reliability at our airport.”

This is the second consecutive weekend that flight operations at the airport have been disrupted, amid months of media reports about holes opening up in the runway.

Last weekend, at least one international flight — Virgin Atlantic from London via Barbados — was cancelled, and an American Airlines flight to Miami was rescheduled because of the condition at the runway.

Then, on Sunday, the US Federal Aviation Authority issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen/Air Missions) informing that the AIA had been temporarily downgraded to accommodate aircraft with a maximum take-off weight below 225,000 lbs.

However, in a Facebook post on Tuesday, the management of AIA denied that the airport was downgraded by the FAA.

“AIA took a precautionary decision to temporarily limit the operating weight of aircraft using the runway on Sunday, 7 December 2025, to allow repair works to be conducted. Following the successful completion of these works, normal runway operations were fully restored on Monday, 8 December 2025,” the airport said in a Facebook post.

The decision to close the airport for maintenance comes after months of reporting by iWitness News about the ongoing situation then, which the Unity Labour Party administration, which was voted out of office on Nov. 27, downplayed.

Runway issue in the media since January

In February, an aviation sector worker who used AIA frequently told iWitness News that the government should address the issues at the airport and stop acting as if the aerodrome was above public criticism.

The worker, an expert with over two decades of experience in their particular field, spoke to iWitness News on condition of anonymity because of their employment status.

They decided to speak to iWitness News after widespread public discussion following the publication by some media outlets of photographs and videos of holes in the asphalt at the EC$700 million airport, which began operating on Feb. 14, 2017.

The airport management and then-prime minister Gonsalves had said that the photos did not reflect the current situation at the aerodrome, even as Gonsalves also had said that pavement work had been done at the airport immediately after the budget was passed on Jan. 17.

The expert had provided iWitness News with photos and videos of the runway at the airport showing that repairs had been done as recently as one week before the Feb. 4 iWitness News article.

Gonsalves gives more info as opposition leader than he did as PM

On Wednesday, Gonsalves, who is now the leader of the opposition, expressed disappointment in the functioning of the New Democratic Party (NDP) administration since it was voted into office on Nov. 27.

“And I see very early missteps, which is indicative of a complete lack of preparation on the part of the NDP for governance,” Gonsalves said, citing “the downgrading of the Argyle International Airport in respect of the receipt of Virgin Atlantic” as an example.

“Had the government been curious, we would not have had the suspension of the Virgin flight,” the opposition leader said, noting that the issue at the airport had been in the news for months.

Gonsalves gave more insight into the nature of the problem at the airport on Wednesday than he did when he was asked about it as prime minister two months earlier.

On Oct. 13, iWitness News asked Gonsalves about the cause of the issue and the permanent solution his government was considering.

Gonsalves said:

“There is a challenge with the part. And this is not unusual, with the aerodrome at Argyle or anywhere else, and the management at Argyle International, they’re doing temporary fixes, but they have a more permanent fix what they’re dealing with. And they have assured me that they have everything in hand, and they’ve given me all the reports, and that’s basically it.”

However, he told a press conference in Kingstown on Wednesday that the matter has been in the news for three months and he and the CEO of the airport had spoken about it.

“And we indicated what we are doing short-term and what we propose doing in the medium and longer term. We fixed on an ongoing basis, every seven days, every 10 days,” he said.

“When Virgin lands and there’s a problem, we sort it out with promptitude,” he said, adding that his government had brought in Cuban and European engineers.

“I myself met them. They suggested that you mix the asphalt with some concrete to give it some durability … while you analyse what the problem is  — a small area of the runway — and to see what is the longer-term fix. And you had to get equipment to come and test it and the like.”

He said that because he was the minister responsible for the airport, he used to be in touch, several times a week, with Dipcon, the only asphalt company in the country that could do the repairs.

‘a complete lack of curiosity’

The opposition leader said that while the NDP won the election on Nov. 27, their government only knew about the problem at the airport on Dec. 7 — 10 days later.

“You get the point I’m making? I hope the public gets the point I’m making. You never should have had a cancellation,” the opposition leader said, even as he said that DIPCON’s equipment broke down two days before the airport was forced to cancel flights.

Gonsalves noted that ministers took up their portfolios on Dec. 1.

“Mr. Terrence Ollivierre was allocated the portfolio of airport development on Tuesday evening, and so he must have known that he was going to get that portfolio.

“Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday — six days, a complete lack of curiosity there, and also at the level of the prime minister, creating an embarrassing situation and one of loss and one of questions raised, which ought not to have been raised,” the opposition leader said.

“And you notice that the matter was sorted out the next day, because Dipcon equipment got up back to speed and everything was sorted because there is a — as I outlined before, there’s no mystery. There was a short-term solution, what you’ve been doing and what you’re preparing to do longer term,” Gonsalves said.