Grantley Adams International Airport

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Grantley Adams International Airport

IATA: BGI - ICAO: TBPB
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Government
Serves		Bridgetown
Elevation AMSL		169 ft (52 m)
Coordinates		13°04′28″N, 59°29′32″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
09/27	11,000	3,353	Asphalt

The Sir Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA), (IATA: BGI, ICAO: TBPB) is found in Seawell, Christ Church on the island of Barbados. The former name of the airport was Seawell Airport before being dedicated in honor of the first Premier of Barbados, Sir Grantley Herbert Adams in 1976. The Grantley Adams Airport has direct service to destinations in the United States, Canada, Central America, South America, Africa, and Europe and operates as a major gateway to the Eastern Caribbean. The airport is a second hub for Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT).

1 Overview and geography
2 History
3 Terminals, airlines and destinations
4 BGI Cargo/Service providers
5 Concorde Museum
6 References
7 Notes
8 External links

Overview and geography

The Sir Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) lies 12.9 km (8 mi.) from the centre of the capital city Bridgetown, in an area officially known as Seawell. This is contrary to most informational services stating the airport as being located inside the capital city. The terrain around the airport is relatively flat and quite Suburban. The airport lies in the south-eastern portion of parish of Christ Church, close to the southern tip of the entire island. The airport is provided with easy access to the ABC highway/highway 7 heading towards the capital and locations to the north and west coast of the island. The Grantley Adams Airport also serves as the main air-transportation hub for the Eastern Caribbean. The airport had recently undergone a two-phase US$100 million upgrade and expansion by the government, which added a brand new arrivals hall adjacent to the current arrivals/departures terminals. Construction, has been made slightly more complicated due to the fact that the airport has to remain open for up to 16 hours per day. The Airport's current infrastructure is supposed to meet the needs of Barbados until at least 2015. The phase III construction project, which is yet to be completed will see changes made to the airplane parking configuration at the airport.^[1]

History

Air transportation at the site of present day airport, then known as Seawell Airport, goes back as far as the late 1930s. In 1939 a plane from the Royal Netherlands Airlines landed on the airport site. At the time there was merely a grassy strip as the runway. The strip was paved some time later and in 1949 the first Terminal building was built on the site, to replace a shed that was being used until then. This ushered in the Airport being formally known as the Seawell Airport. During the 1960s the eastern flight-range just east of the airport became known as Paragon. This area of the airport became the initial base of a High Altitude Research Project known as Project HARP, Project HARP was jointly sponsored by McGill University in Canada and the United States military. In 1983, the U.S.-sponsored invasion of Grenada prompted the United States to form yet another agreement with Barbados. As part of the deal, the U.S. expanded a part of the current airport infrastructure. This prepared the Grantley Adams Airport to be used as a base. The U.S. military oversaw the upgrading of the Airport runway in order for it to handle larger U.S. military aircraft on their way to neighbouring Grenada. As part of the plan to maintain lasting stability in Grenada, the United States also assisted in the establishment of the Regional Security System (RSS) at the eastern Grantley Adams airport flight-rage. The R.S.S. was (and still is) a security unit focused on providing security for the Eastern Caribbean. The Sir Grantley Adams International Airport, as it is known today, handles most large aircraft including Boeing 747s. The airport was also one of the few destinations in the world where the [[British Airways' Concorde]] aircraft made regularly-scheduled flights,and also for repairs, before the Concordes were retired. The Concorde typically flew to Barbados during the busy UK-Barbados winter season. The flight time of the Concorde from the United Kingdom to Barbados was less than 4 hours.

2000-2006 Expansion project

Since the Grantley Adams International Airport had become a relatively busy airport for such a small island, and based on the fact that future air traffic to the facilities are expected to increase, the Government of Barbados kicked-off on a US$100 million programme to revamp the Airport's current infrastructure. Phase I: Which is completed oversaw an upgrading of the Runways, taxiways, parking approns, and approach lighting. This phase also included the Government of Barbados acquiring private land adjacent to the landing strip in order to bring the airport into compliance with new international aviation regulations. Phase II included adding a brand new arrivals terminal adjacent to the current building moving arrivals from the current terminal, renovating the current terminal as a departures facility and bringing the airport infrastructure current for the new millennium.

2006-beyond expansion

Phase III which had to wait until the completion of the 2007 Cricket World Cup will see the addition of new airport terminal Jetway (gates), new spacious departure lounges much closer to the airplanes and air bridges to make connections at the facility much easier. Also nearing completion is the expanded duty free shopping area and restaurants for travellers

Architects

Queen’s Quay Architects International Inc. (Q2) - www.q2a.net - of Ontario, Canada -- are the architects of the redesigned GAIA airport, and are monitoring the renovation & expansion of the facilities.

Contractor

Sypher:Mueller International Inc. - www.sypher.aero -- of Ontario, Canada -- are responsible for the contractor, coordination and planning of the new terminal.

New Arrivals building

After the expansion project, the airport's Arrivals facility was moved to a separate brand-new building adjacent to the previous structure. This allowed the Departures area to occupy much of the previous shared structure. Airport Contact Information: Grantley Adams International Airport Christ Church, Barbados Tel: +1-246-428-7101

Terminals, airlines and destinations

The Sir Grantley Adams International Airport has two terminal buildings designed to appear to be one single continuous structure. The first structure and oldest is the current departures terminial. Prior to the 2000-2006 expansion project, this single terminal building housed both the arrivals and departures facilities. Both sections were divided in two with a few duty free shops and an open-air area in the middle of the airport with trees and other greenery which was open to both halfs of the terminal. The new translucent membrane that towers over the airport shows the place where the old terminal was split in two. Additionally the same membrane tent design over the building also covers the gap between the old and new terminal and gives the appearance of both buildings being a single long building.

Runway and taxi-ways

The Sir Grantley Adams has only one main active airport-runway at all times. This runway is laid out in a west-southwest — east-northeasterly direction. The southern end of the runway has the markings "09", the northern-end it reads "27". Due to the earths' tradewinds, that blow from the Atlantic Ocean across Barbados from the east, all planes land and take-off at the Sir Grantley Adams International Airport flying into the wind (That is from the "09" end of the runway). Because of this, the general flight path for planes landing at the Airport is fly along the west coast of Barbados. Planes which have recently taken off usually fly along the East coast of Barbados. The Runway has 5 taxi-aprons leading to the both the Arrival and Departures terminals. The runway and taxi ways are all paved.

Airlines and service to/from airport

The Grantley Adams International Airport has direct-flight connections with some of the following Airlines and gateways.

Airline Name	IATA code	ICAO code	Direct gateways to the Sir Grantley Adams (BGI)
Air Canada	AC	ACA	Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau Int'l, Quebec; Toronto-Pearson Int'l Ontario
Air Jamaica	JM	AJM	Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int'l, Florida; Kingston-Norman Manley Int'l, Jamaica; New York City-John F. Kennedy Int'l, New York; Saint Georges-Point Salines Int'l, Grenada; Vieux Fort-Hewanorra Int'l, Saint Lucia
American Airlines	AA	AAL	Miami Int'l, Florida; New York City-John F. Kennedy Int'l, New York
American Eagle	MQ	EGF	San Juan-Luis Muñoz Marín Int'l, Puerto Rico; Castries-George F. L. Charles, Saint Lucia
bmi	BD	BMA	Manchester, United Kingdom
British Airways	BA	BAW	London-Gatwick, United Kingdom; Port of Spain-Piarco Int'l, Trinidad and Tobago
Caribbean Airlines	BW	BWA	Georgetown-Cheddi Jagan Int'l, Guyana; Philipsburg-Princess Juliana Int'l, Saint Maarten; Port of Spain-Piarco Int'l, Trinidad and Tobago; Saint John's-VC Bird Int'l, Antigua and Barbuda; Scarborough-Crown Point, Trinidad and Tobago
Condor Airlines	DE	CFG	Frankfurt Int'l, Germany
Delta Air Lines	DL	DAL	Atlanta-Hartsfield Int'l, Georgia
First Choice Airways	DP	FCA	London-Gatwick, United Kingdom; Manchester Airport, United Kingdom
LIAT (Hub)	LI	LIA	Castries-George F. L. Charles, Saint Lucia; Georgetown-Cheddi Jagan Int'l, Guyana; Saint Georges-Point Salines Int'l, Grenada; Saint John's-VC Bird Int'l, Antigua and Barbuda; Kingstown-E.T Joshua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Scarborough-Crown Point, Trinidad and Tobago
Monarch Airlines	ZB	MON	London-Gatwick, United Kingdom
Mustique Airways	__	MAW	Bequia-J.F. Mitchell, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Canouan Airport, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Kinsgtown-E.T. Joshua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Mustique Airport, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Skyservice	5G	SSV	Toronto-Pearson Int'l Ontario
SVG Air	__	SVG	Bequia-J.F. Mitchell, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Canouan Airport, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Kinsgtown-E.T. Joshua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Mustique Airport, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Union Island Airport, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
US Airways	US	USA	Charlotte-Douglas Int'l, North Carolina; Philadelphia Int'l, Pennsylvania
Virgin Atlantic	VS	VIR	London-Gatwick, United Kingdom [ends 11 December/begins 17 March]; London-Heathrow, United Kingdom [begins 11 December/ends 17 March]; Manchester Airport, United Kingdom
XL Airways	JN	XLA	London-Gatwick, United Kingdom; Manchester Airport, United Kingdom
Zoom Airlines	Z4	OOM	Toronto-Pearson Int'; Ontario

Former airlines/services using GAIA as a hub

Airline/Service Name	IATA code	ICAO code	Callsign
Aero Services	*	BAS	Aeroserv
Air Calypso	*	*	*
Barbados International Airways	*	*	*
Carib Express	*	BCB	Wavebird
Carib West	*	*	*
Caribair	*	*	*
Caribbean Air Cargo	DC	DCC	Caricargo
Caribbean Airways Ltd. (Previously as: International Caribbean Airways)	IQ	IQQ	Caribjet
Caribbean Airways, International	*	*	*
Cargo Link (Caribbean), Inc.	*	CLM	Cargo Link
Helenair (Barbados)	*	HCB	Helen
Trans Island Air 2000 (Previously as: Trans Island Air)	*	TRD	Trans Island
Tropic Air	*	*	*
Tropical Air Services	OQ	*	*

Air alliances going to GAIA

BGI Cargo/Service providers

Besides the Arrivals and Departures terminals, the Sir Grantley Adams International Airport also included provisions for a new cargo building in the 2000-2006 expansion project. The cargo needs of the airport include timely postal services in addition to various airline support. The cargo facility is located on the western end of the airport next to the new Arrivals building.

Cargo/service provider name	IATA code	ICAO code	Purpose
Amerijet International	M6	AJT	Cargo
DHL Air	D0	DHK	Cargo
FedEx Express	FX	FDX	Cargo
Seawell Air Services (SAS), Ltd.	__	___	Cargo
United Parcel Service	5X	UPS	Cargo

Concorde Museum

To east of the main Sir Grantley Adams Airport is the site of the 8534 sq.m British Airways Concorde Museum on the old Spencers Plantation. The museum is part of the new proposed expanded airport grounds. British Airways had granted the Government of Barbados one of their retired Concorde aircraft and BAC/SNIAS Concorde 212 G-BOAE is now on permanent display in a dedicated hall. The Q2 company had entered a museum and exhibition facility design to the Government of Barbados for this new permanent housing of the aircraft. The 'Concorde Experience' as a whole has a number of zones providing information on the aircraft.