Robert L. Bradshaw Airport , formerly known as ''Golden Rock Airport'', is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

located just northeast of

Basseterre Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kit ...

, on the island of

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...

, serving the nation of

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

. It was named after the first Premier of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla (as it then was),

Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw (16 September 1916 – 23 May 1978) was the first Premier of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and previously served as Chief Minister, legislator, and labour activist. Early life Bradshaw was born in the Saint Paul Capister ...

. In 2008, the airport handled 399,706 passengers.

Overview

A major renovation was completed in December 2006. The US$17 million project financed by loans from the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, includes expansion of the parking apron to accommodate six-wide-bodied aircraft at the same time, complete resurfacing of the runway and construction of a new taxi-way. Construction started late 2004. Up to 6 wide bodied jets can now be accommodated on the tarmac. The airport can accommodate commercial jumbo jets and handles scheduled non-stop jet flights to Canada and the United States, as well as numerous regional commuter flights from within the Caribbean area. The airport also provides facilities for cargo and private jets. The largest aircraft ever to land here was a Boeing 747-400. A chartered

Sri Lankan Airlines SriLankan Airlines (formerly known as Air Lanka) is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka and a member airline of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is currently the largest airline in Sri Lanka by number of aircraft and destinations and was launched ...

Airbus A340-300 The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel wit ...

made aviation history when they operated a charter flight to St Kitts in 2011, a nearly 10,000-mile journey from Colombo-BIA, Sri Lanka.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Other facilities

The airport houses the St. Kitts Outstation of the

Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority The Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) is a civil aviation authority serving the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The headquarters are in Saint John's, Antigua and Barbuda. The agency serves as the aviation accident ...

Accidents and incidents

* On 26 September 2009,

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

Flight 2156 to

V. C. Bird International Airport V. C. Bird International Airport is an international airport located on the island of Antigua, northeast of St. John's, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda. History The airport originally was operated by the United States Army Air Forc ...

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

, operated by Boeing 777-236 G-VIIR entered the

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

through the wrong

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...

, prior to takeoff. This resulted in the aircraft having 695m less available for takeoff, compared to the correct taxiway entry. The takeoff was however completed normally with no injuries or other damages. The AAIB concluded in its report that the following factors contributed to the incident: "The airport authority had not installed any taxiway or holding point signs on the airfield. The crew did not brief the taxi routing. The crew misidentified Taxiway Bravo for Taxiway Alpha and departed from Intersection Bravo. The trainee

ATCO Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...

did not inform the flight crew that they were at Intersection Bravo."

References

External links

{{authority control Bradshaw International Airport Bradshaw International Airport Bradshaw International Airport