New airport additions to be dedicated tomorrow
When it was first conceived over a decade ago it was thought that the Philip Goldson International Airport could handle whatever the future had in store. The boom in international travel caught it by surprise, however, and we’ve been playing catch-up ever since. Tomorrow evening a major addition to the facility will be officially opened and this morning I managed to get in ahead of the crowd.
Work on new terminals, apron and taxiway is just about finished at the Philip Goldson International Airport. The construction, which started in April of 1997 and is scheduled to be completed on Thursday, July thirtieth, was necessitated when it became apparent that the existing main terminal and apron had become too small to accommodate the increase of flights and passengers. Ian Flowers is the airport’s Duty Operations Manager.
Ian Flowers, Duty Operations Manager, P.G.I.A.
“Aviation industry in Belize is growing as well as tourism and the Airport’s Authority, in keeping that in mind, felt that we had to keep up with the times and we needed to make sure that we had the facilities in place to help with the growth of the industry.”
One new facility that promises to save the airline’s time in turn around and fuel is the eight point eight million Belize dollar parallel taxiway dubbed, Alfa. The taxiway, which is three thousand feet long and seventy-five feet wide, will now allow an aircraft to move freely to the runway.
Ian Flowers
“What will happen is when one airline is landing, the others, instead of waiting as they were in the past on the Eastern and Western taxiway, will now be able to access the taxiway Alfa, which is the new parallel taxiway, and go to the end of the runway and prepare for take off.”
Work on the taxiway’s lights is being completed and following a final inspection by the contractor, Mohammed Al Kharata and Sons, a Kuwaiti company and its consultant, professional Engineering Services, it will then be officially opened. Opposite taxiway Alfa, lies the newly constructed domestic airline apron. Built by Grupo Deyca, a Venezuelan based company, it was constructed to alleviate the congestion on the main apron.
Ian Flowers
“The construction of the new apron is in conjunction with the new terminal for domestic airlines and will house, for the most part, the local airlines and will free up some of the apron space for larger aircrafts to the left of the apron. And I believe again this will help with the passenger flow and help to create more tranquility between the international and domestic airlines.”
Passengers arriving and departing on domestic airlines will now enjoy the luxury of being able to move more freely and comfortably in the spacious new domestic terminal. Situated on the east side of the main building, it is already being described as far more attractive than its older cousin.
Ian Flowers
“For one, there are two new fountains of which we are very proud. The area for the departure is a large improvement of the other area. The international area, which was combined with
the domestic departures, although it will be joined, it will be much more spacious and we will be having there three new shops, a snack bar and the security arrangements will be of the same quality because it is a common departure area, whereby we will have the document check, the passenger screening and carry on luggage screening.”
Flowers says all security checks have been done to international standards. Initially it will be the local airlines, Tropic Air and Maya/Island Air that will operate from the domestic Terminal.
Ian Flowers
“What we have been noticing is that the main terminal building for the international and the domestic, that we were using in the past, was becoming much too small even though it has been around six to seven years that this terminal building has been opened. It already outgrew the terminal building and we find major congestion inside the main concourse area.”
No more will passengers, leaving on a local airline, will need to enter the main terminal building to depart for their destination. Likewise there will also be a change for those passengers arriving on an international airline with a connection to a local airline.
Ian Flowers
“Once they have cleared the immigration and customs and hopefully bought something from the duty free shop, they can, will exit and then come around to the front of the building over to the new domestic terminal building, where they will be able to check in with their airline of choice and go through the screening area and back into the domestic departure and catch one of the flights out to the cayes or whatever their location is.”
The domestic terminal is also equipped with two departure gates, a passenger arrival area and baggage reclaim area. The new terminal building, including all of its facilities and the domestic apron, were built by Grupo Deyca, a Venezuelan based company at a cost of twelve million Belize dollars. Work as well included expanding the arrival terminal for international flights.
Ian Flowers
“What will happen is that passengers arriving on international flights, the situation will be the same except for one major feature. The arrival area will be air-conditioned and we will now have six immigration officers on duty instead of the four. So again that will facilitate us in expediting passengers through immigration process as well as for customs. There will be two additional ramps for customs officers.”
The duty free shop in the arrival area will also be improved.
While most of the work has been concentrated on the building
itself, the entire Philip Goldson International Airport compound has been fenced in as well.
The taxi way was financed by a loan from the government of Kuwait while the terminal buildings and apron were constructed with funds borrowed from the Canadian International Bank of Commerce.
