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Debt incurred for airport expansion will be paid by airport- Premier

The extension to the Terrance B. Lettsome Airport will enable commercial jets to fly nonstop directly to and from the eastern seaboard of the United States. Photo: Reuben Stoby/VINO
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - Supporting the need for the runway at the Terrence B. International Airport at Beef Island to be extended, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. D. Orlando Smith OBE said the expansion project would pay for itself through an improved fee structure at the airport.

According to Dr. Smith, air lift is a concern to the Territory. “Recognizing this we have already made a decision on the initial design of an extension to the Terrance B. Lettsome Airport, which will enable commercial jets to fly nonstop directly to and from the eastern seaboard of the United States, and for corporate class aircraft such as the Gulfstream V to fly directly to Western Europe,” Dr. Smith said in his budget address on January 17, 2012.

“Madam Speaker, you would also be interested to note that though debt will have to be incurred to complete this project, it will be repaid entirely from revenues generated from the airport itself, through an improved fee structure that depends on route - dependant levies and increased traffic.”

The Premier said Government has considered this initiative, because of the impact that it will have on “our tourism product and the ease with which our citizens will be able to travel to and from other parts of the world, as the single most important infrastructural project being introduced in this budget”.

10 Responses to “Debt incurred for airport expansion will be paid by airport- Premier”

  • Sorry (20/01/2012, 08:20) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    I'm sorry but I don't think this is the way. People are not flying here because of the cost of a tickets compared to St Thomas, airlines are not going to come because of the tax and they already have hubs in St Thomas and San Juan. I hope I'm wrong but what happens when we have a big runway and no planes. We've been down this road before people. Do we the people of the VI have any say or will the Government just build it anyway.
    • Not so (20/01/2012, 10:14) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      Many airlines are moving away from hubs, American for example are scaling back in San Juan but increasing flights to several Caribbean islands directly, we need to be able to take advantage of this.
    • True (20/01/2012, 17:39) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      You had your say when voting at the election. Let them run the country and stop moaning!
    • country above self (20/01/2012, 17:57) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      Are we catering to ST Thomas or are we concerned about how our visitors are getting to our country. If any of these airlines decide to pull out of St Thomas we are further screwed. We have our product to protect and you can only do this if you control your own situation, we need the ability to bring people directly here and vice versa. This is buisness get on board.
  • critic (20/01/2012, 08:43) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    if landing fees are too high, jets will refuse to come here and ticket prices will be high also
  • Crank Shaft (20/01/2012, 10:01) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    This needs to be heavily debated upon with all the pros and cons laid out on the table. Professionals in the field of aviation, both local and foreign should be a part of this discussion. I feel the only way forward is to get people to understand exactly what's going on. I'm not an aviation expert but common sense says if it costs too much to fly here, people won't fly here. But on the flip side, I think we underestimate how many people, evel locals travel on a daily, weekly, monthly basis and those of us who don't travel regularly only because of lack of convenience. Show us the figures.....
  • james bridgewater (21/01/2012, 09:11) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    way to go
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