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Argyle Airport St Vincent opening Feb14th

 
ponderiver 2017-01-09 10:53:12 

No Benches for Vincy peeps anymore


Five years later than planned, Argyle International Airport in nearby St. Vincent will officially open on 14th February 2017 at a cost of EC$700 million (roughly US$260 million) including ‘in-kind contributions’.

According to a radio interview with Glen Beache, former Minister of Tourism and currently Chief Executive Officer of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, at least two international flights will touch down on St. Valentine’s Day, a chartered Canadian Sunwing Airlines from Toronto bringing nationals and visitors and a Caribbean Airlines flight from New York’s JFK airport.

By anybody’s reckoning it’s an incredibly bold move. The airport will be capable of handling up to 1.4 million passengers each year and to put that in perspective, a recent Travel Weekly article quoted that SVG ‘registered close to 62,000 air arrivals in 2014’. Apparently discussions have taken place with several major airlines with the front runners likely to be jetBlue from the USA, WestJet from Canada and British Airways from the United Kingdom
.

 
POINT 2017-01-09 18:40:03 

In reply to ponderiver

The Argyle International Airport from its inception has been badmouthed by the Opposition Parties in SVG .

What the main Opposition Party refuses
to state is the fact that THEY were
in Office for 17 Years ; and did absolutely nothing about building an
International Airport .

Interestingly , sometime last year one of the NDP Supporters , stated that she wanted a Tsunami to come &
destroy the Argyle International Airport .

My understanding is that currently the flights from Toronto ,Canada by
SUNWING AIRLINES , maybe Piloted by a Vincentian Pilot who works for SUNWING , Daniel Gibson , who regularly pilots Flights to Trinidad .
There possibly may also be a Flight coming from England ; there has not been much data regarding whether this
will become reality .

There are a lot of Data collected regarding Crosswind , and the data collected revealed that there is no problem regarding crosswinds . BTW Planes can take off from either the
Northern or Southern end of the Runway .

Vincentians travelling anywhere by plane as from the 14th of February
will have to go to the Argyle International Airport to travel via plane Overseas .

 
Chrissy 2017-01-09 19:01:50 

In reply to ponderiver

Well done Ralph

 
POINT 2017-01-09 19:12:34 

It did take a long time to be built , for the following reasons :

1. The Government had to buy the land & Houses of persons who lived there .

2. The Government had to remove some
high Hills , and a Catholic Church that was on one of those Hills , also
the graves of persons who died and were buried there . The Government , then had to build a Church & then rebury the persons who died and were
buried near to the Church .

3. The Original Inhabitants , the Caribs had made carvings on high rocks that had to be removed . The
Egyptians came , and stated that they
could be removed , they went back to Egypt , and never came back , perhaps
because of the unrest in Egypt .

The Mexicans came , they said that they could remove the Petroglyphs ;
they went back to Mexico ; and never
returned .

After about 3 or 4 years , Camillo Gonsalves , the Prime Minister's son
who was at the time the SVG Ambassador to the UN , and fluent in Spanish , spoke to the Argentinians they came and removed the Petroglyphs ..
This caused a delay regarding dealing
with the Runway . The rock that was encountered was very hard , and had to be dynamited on several occasions .to bring down large sections of the
Rock .

There is a person on facebook - Sydney Morgan who has taken thousands of Photos of the Airport from its beginnings to today .

At the Airport there is a Document
Center , where persons can see , the
site of the Argyle Airport prior to
its transformation , to its current
status .

Sydney Morgan goes there on Wednesdays & Saturdays , and takes at
least 100 photos on each of those days that he goes there .

 
POINT 2017-01-09 19:30:30 

In reply to Chrissy

Ralph has revolutionized ALL levels of Education in SVG . His detractors , always cite the fact that there aren't
jobs for those coming out of Universities , my take however is that
they are missing the point , which is that when they get jobs Overseas , they send Remittances back to SVG .

There is already a Master Plan for Arnos Vale where the Government intends building a City ; & a new Hospital .

There are some vital spinoffs from the AIA ; Machinery to break up rocks , Machinery to turn Asphalt chunks to molten Asphalt . These would be valuable in building & Repairing Roads .

 
pelon 2017-01-09 19:39:58 

In reply to POINT

I completely agree.

Also, Arnhim Eustace attempted at every opportunity to derail this project (even with "fake news') - yet to see it come to fruition leaves me feeling very proud to have witnessed it's development first hand. GO RALPH!!!! And let us not forget to thank Cuba and many others...

See you in Indian Bay or Mayreau one day... I remember you saying you'd never been down as far as Mayreau... you must!!!

 
POINT 2017-01-09 20:02:28 

In reply to pelon

My Mother was from Union Island , also my Grandparents her parents , I and my siblings also knew our Great GrandMother , they all lived in Union Islands .

So every year I and my siblings went
to Union Island , which obviously meant that the Boats travelled to Bequia ; Canouan ; Mayreau & Union Island .

I have gone to Bequia several Times ,
but I have never gone to Canouan or
Mayreau . I have gone to Carriacou , & Petite Martinique , the latter is
very interesting in that , it has no
Custom Officers or Police Officers .
So if you go there it is best going with some who is from there or has relatives there .

The first time I ever saw a 4 mast Schooner was in Petite Martinique .
The people there deal in contraband stuff ; so they look at Foreigners
very suspiciously .

I have never gone to the Tobago Cays either , When I decided to go there
one week before I went , there was a
report in the Newspaper stating that
the underwater volcano at KICK UM JENNY , which is just off Carriacou was about to break the surface
so I did not go .

 
pelon 2017-01-09 20:19:49 

In reply to POINT

They are spectacular gems - hidden gems of the Caribbean.

I know of no better spot for "detaching" than Mayreau. I've sailed there often - and the views of the Grenadines... Paradise.

My last trip to the airport was in August - and even then it was looking very good/ready. Big up to Ralph.

 
POINT 2017-01-09 20:22:55 

In reply to pelon

Unlike other Prime Ministers , Ralph
loves to mingle with those he perceives can
help SVG .

The Master Plan for Arnos Vale , was drawn by a Canadian who lives in either Mustique or Canouan , and has
a large Company that does that a lot of work in Canada .

All Children going to Primary & Secondary Schools get free laptops
courtesy of a Millionaire from either
Mustique or Canouan . Every Country he goes to he asks for Scholarships
for Qualified Young Vincentians .

 
NYCGURU 2017-01-10 17:14:05 

In reply to pelon

You are absolutely on the money about Mayreau. A few years ago i made the trip to Salt Whistle bay, in the company of two brothers from Holland, an English couple and an Australian girl. We had a fabulous time and my hope is to make that trip again with friends. Simply breathtaking view.

 
POINT 2017-01-10 17:30:51 

I have however seen Pictures of Salt Whistle Bay , and they are absolutely stunning .

 
jen 2017-01-10 19:08:45 

In reply to NYCGURU

Salt Whistle bay is as good as it gets, i'm a Grenadines boy and have to say its the best of all the beaches in SVG.

 
NYCGURU 2017-01-10 20:12:01 

In reply to jen

I have only visited Bequia and Mayreau so far.My hope is that when i return, i will get an opportunity to visit the rest. Man the Caribbean is truly a paradise.I have visited Jamaica the last three years for Masters cricket, and am totally in love with the place.

 
pelon 2017-01-10 20:55:09 

I have been spending summers on Mayreau for a some time. Somehow managed to buy land their too, not sure what will come of it though....

The family that owned the lands sold it in parts about 10 years now.

I call it paradise. enjoy rum shop folk

You have no idea how special this place is.

 
NYCGURU 2017-01-10 22:38:25 

In reply to pelon

Thanks for sharing. Paradise indeed.