Placencia airstrip will close two weeks for resurfacing

There is good news and bad news tonight for residents of the Placencia Peninsula. The bad news is that the area’s airstrip will be closed for a total of ten days. The good news is that the reason for the closure is that the strip will be completely repaired. The work will take place in two five-day stretches, with shaping being done from midday Monday, February fifth through Friday, February ninth. The airport will reopen for the weekend and then close down again from noon on the twelfth through the seventeenth for the paving, which will use a premix as opposed to the rougher chip and seal surface.

Although some tourism operations are unhappy with the timing of the closure, the poor condition of the strip has made the high season interruption necessary. The runway surface is plagued by loose stones and the undulating pavement creates dangerous pools of water when it rains. While the repairs will make flying to Placencia much safer, the problem of the runway’s length and close proximity to the road have not been addressed. During the time the airport is out of commission, planes will run out of Savannah near Independence and passengers will be taken to Placencia by boat.