Grantley Adams International Airport
Encyclopedia
Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA), is found in Seawell, Christ Church
on the island of Barbados
. The former name of the airport was Seawell Airport before being dedicated in honour of the first Premier of Barbados, Sir Grantley Herbert Adams
in 1976. The airport's timezone is GMT –4, and is located in World Area Code region #246 (by the U.S. Department of Transportation
). GAIA is the only designated port of entry for persons arriving and departing by air in Barbados.
Grantley Adams Airport has direct service to destinations in the United States
, Canada
, Central America
, South America
and Europe
and operates as a major gateway to the Eastern Caribbean. The airport is a second hub for Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT), and hub for new LCC
, REDjet. The airport is an important air-link for cruise lines departing and arriving to Bridgetown
, and a base of operations for the Regional Security System
(RSS).
, 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.
Grantley Adams Airport also serves as the main air-transportation hub for the Eastern Caribbean. The airport has recently undergone a multi-phase US$100 million upgrade and expansion by the government
, which added a brand new arrivals hall adjacent to the prior arrivals/departures terminals. Construction was 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.
As of 2008, parking is available outside the airport at a rate of Bds$2.00
per hour or a maximum rate Bds$12.00
daily.
that blow from the Atlantic Ocean
across Barbados from the east, all planes usually land and take-off in an easterly direction. This results in a typical flight path for arriving aircraft along the west coast of Barbados, while departing flights usually fly along the east coast of the island. On relatively rare but not uncommon occurrences, some weather disturbances, such as passing hurricanes or tropical systems, may cause planes to take off or land in a westerly direction such as on 29 August 2010.
During the 1960s the eastern flight-range just south-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 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.
Grantley Adams International Airport, as it is known today, handles most large aircraft including Boeing 747
s. The airport was also one of the few destinations in the world where British Airways
' Concorde
aircraft made regularly scheduled flights, and also for repairs, before Concorde was retired. Concorde typically flew to Barbados during the busy UK-Barbados winter season. The flight time of Concorde from the United Kingdom to Barbados was less than 4 hours. On October 17th 2011, ZA006, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrived at BGI for testing. This was followed by an October 24th arrival of the Boeing
747-8i for further high humidity environment testing.
commenced a US$100 million programme to revamp the Airport's current infrastructure.
Phase I, which is now complete, saw an upgrading of the runways, taxiways, parking aprons, 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 (also complete), 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.
level. The centre is meant to be used by special customers of several airlines at the terminal.
The Phase III expansion planned had to wait until the completion of the 2007 Cricket World Cup
, it envisions 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. In 2010 airport authorities stated that traffic to the airport was up 58% and that a 20-25 year plan was being formed for the facility including an addition to the current taxiway and renovation of the cargo facilities up to international standards.
s. Along with a number of customs and immigration windows for processing travellers.
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. The new terminal spans gates 1–10.
, had initially attempted to begin operations from Jamaica
however, Jamaican aviation authorities
reportedly rejected their application for licenses. Following this, the envoy shifted focus basing operations from Barbados. The partnership is said to have begun as a partnership of a handful of business executives from Jamaica-based Digicel
. Digicel is also said to be a major player in the marketing regime/scheme for the airline. The airline have began seeking approval of U.S.
authorities to fly to that market in early 2010 and originally projected to commence operations on December 1, 2010. After 3 months of dedicated regional service the airline would then proceed with plans to service Fort Lauderdale and other US key destinations from the Caribbean. On October 16, 2010 Airone Ventures Ltd. launched their airline brand REDjet, at the Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford
Conference and Culture Centre formerly known as Sherbourne Centre.
is located on the airport property, along the western edge of the arrivals terminal. In addition REDjet has its head office at the airport.
Museum on the old Spencers Plantation. The museum is part of the new 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.
On 2 November 1977 G-BOAE was the same aircraft that Queen Elizabeth II travelled flying from GAIA to London Heathrow, England
. That occasion was the first visit by Concorde to Barbados.
"Alpha Echo" was also the last Concorde to fly supersonic on November 17, 2003, on its delivery flight to Barbados.
Christ Church Parish, Barbados
The parish of Christ Church is one of eleven historic political divisions of Barbados. It has a land area of and is found at the southern end of the island...
on the island of Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. The former name of the airport was Seawell Airport before being dedicated in honour of the first Premier of Barbados, Sir Grantley Herbert Adams
Grantley Herbert Adams
Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, CMG, QC was a Barbadian and British West Indian politician.Grantley Herbert Adams was born at Colliston, Government Hill, St. Michael on April 28, 1898. He was the third child of seven born to Fitzherbert Adams and the former Rosa Frances Turney. Grantley was educated...
in 1976. The airport's timezone is GMT –4, and is located in World Area Code region #246 (by the U.S. Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
). GAIA is the only designated port of entry for persons arriving and departing by air in Barbados.
Grantley Adams Airport has direct service to destinations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and operates as a major gateway to the Eastern Caribbean. The airport is a second hub for Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT), and hub for new LCC
Low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...
, REDjet. The airport is an important air-link for cruise lines departing and arriving to Bridgetown
Port of Bridgetown
The Port of Bridgetown , is a seaport in Bridgetown on the southwest coast of Barbados...
, and a base of operations for the Regional Security System
Regional Security System
The Regional Security System is an international agreement for the defence and security of the eastern Caribbean region.The Regional Security System was created out of a need for collective response to security threats, which were impacting on the stability of the region in the late 1970s and...
(RSS).
Overview and geography
Grantley Adams International Airport lies 12.9 km (8 mi) from the centre of the capital city BridgetownBridgetown
The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael...
, 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
Christ Church Parish, Barbados
The parish of Christ Church is one of eleven historic political divisions of Barbados. It has a land area of and is found at the southern end of the island...
, 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.
Grantley Adams Airport also serves as the main air-transportation hub for the Eastern Caribbean. The airport has recently undergone a multi-phase US$100 million upgrade and expansion by the government
Government of Barbados
Government of Barbados consists of: The Monarch, HM Queen Elizabeth II ; The Prime Minister, The Hon. Freundel Stuart, and his Cabinet; as legislature, divided into two chambers , and an independent judiciary...
, which added a brand new arrivals hall adjacent to the prior arrivals/departures terminals. Construction was 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.
As of 2008, parking is available outside the airport at a rate of Bds$2.00
Barbados dollar
The dollar has been the currency of Barbados since 1935. The present dollar has the ISO 4217 code BBD and is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign "$" or, alternatively, "Bds$" to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents...
per hour or a maximum rate Bds$12.00
Barbados dollar
The dollar has been the currency of Barbados since 1935. The present dollar has the ISO 4217 code BBD and is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign "$" or, alternatively, "Bds$" to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents...
daily.
Runway and taxiways
The Airport has a single east-westerly runway, connected by five taxiway intersections with the aircraft parking area which is adjacent to the main terminals. As a result of the earths' tradewindsTrade wind
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...
that blow from the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
across Barbados from the east, all planes usually land and take-off in an easterly direction. This results in a typical flight path for arriving aircraft along the west coast of Barbados, while departing flights usually fly along the east coast of the island. On relatively rare but not uncommon occurrences, some weather disturbances, such as passing hurricanes or tropical systems, may cause planes to take off or land in a westerly direction such as on 29 August 2010.
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 KLM Royal Dutch 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 south-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
Project HARP, short for High Altitude Research Project, was a joint project of the United States Department of Defense and Canada's Department of National Defence created with the goal of studying ballistics of re-entry vehicles at low cost; whereas most such projects used expensive rockets, HARP...
, Project HARP was jointly sponsored by McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in Canada and the United States military.
In 1983, the U.S.-sponsored invasion of Grenada
Invasion of Grenada
The Invasion of Grenada, codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, was a 1983 United States-led invasion of Grenada, a Caribbean island nation with a population of about 100,000 located north of Venezuela. Triggered by a military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion...
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 Grantley Adams Airport to be used as a base. The U.S. military oversaw the upgrading of the Airport runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
in order for it to handle larger U.S. military aircraft on their way to neighbouring Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
.
As part of the plan to maintain lasting stability in Grenada, the United States also assisted in the establishment of the Regional Security System
Regional Security System
The Regional Security System is an international agreement for the defence and security of the eastern Caribbean region.The Regional Security System was created out of a need for collective response to security threats, which were impacting on the stability of the region in the late 1970s and...
(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.
Grantley Adams International Airport, as it is known today, handles most large aircraft including Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
s. The airport was also one of the few destinations in the world where British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
' Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
aircraft made regularly scheduled flights, and also for repairs, before Concorde was retired. Concorde typically flew to Barbados during the busy UK-Barbados winter season. The flight time of Concorde from the United Kingdom to Barbados was less than 4 hours. On October 17th 2011, ZA006, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner arrived at BGI for testing. This was followed by an October 24th arrival of the Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
747-8i for further high humidity environment testing.
2000-2006 Expansion project
Since 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 is expected to increase, the Government of BarbadosGovernment of Barbados
Government of Barbados consists of: The Monarch, HM Queen Elizabeth II ; The Prime Minister, The Hon. Freundel Stuart, and his Cabinet; as legislature, divided into two chambers , and an independent judiciary...
commenced a US$100 million programme to revamp the Airport's current infrastructure.
Phase I, which is now complete, saw an upgrading of the runways, taxiways, parking aprons, 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 (also complete), 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.
Expansion after 2006
On 1 June 2007, the Bds$1.7 million Club Caribbean Executive Lounge and Business Centre was opened as an added amenity for business travellers. The centre contains 5000 sq ft (464.5 m²). and is located on the mezzanineMezzanine
Mezzanine may refer to:* Mezzanine , an intermediate floor between main floors of a building* Mezzanine, in technology, can refer to a thin sheet of plastic insulating different parts of circuitry from each other in cramped environments, such as laptop interiors* Mezzanine board, or daughterboard,...
level. The centre is meant to be used by special customers of several airlines at the terminal.
The Phase III expansion planned had to wait until the completion of the 2007 Cricket World Cup
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
, it envisions the addition of new airport terminal Jetway
Jetway
A jet bridge is an enclosed, movable connector which extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, allowing passengers to board and disembark without having to go outside...
(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. In 2010 airport authorities stated that traffic to the airport was up 58% and that a 20-25 year plan was being formed for the facility including an addition to the current taxiway and renovation of the cargo facilities up to international standards.
New arrivals building
After the expansion project, the airport's arrivals facility was moved to a separate brand-new 70000 square feet (6,503.2 m²) building adjacent to the previous structure. This allowed the Departures area to occupy much of the previous shared structure. The new arrivals terminal was built with five large baggage carouselBaggage carousel
A baggage carousel is a device, generally at an airport, that delivers checked luggage to the passengers at the baggage claim area at their final destination. Not all airports use these devices...
s. Along with a number of customs and immigration windows for processing travellers.
Terminals, airlines and destinations
Grantley Adams International Airport has two terminal buildings designed to appear as one single continuous structure. The first structure and oldest is the current departures terminal. This terminal stretches from gates 11–13. Prior to the 2000-2006 expansion project, the original single terminal building housed both the arrivals and departures facilities. The former layout was 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 halves of the terminal. The new translucent membraneTensile structure
A tensile structure is a construction of elements carrying only tension and no compression or bending. The term tensile should not be confused with tensegrity, which is a structural form with both tension and compression elements....
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. The new terminal spans gates 1–10.
Passenger
The following airlines serve the following destinations:Charter
REDjet
In 2010, a private sector envoy announced an intention to base a start-up airline at Grantley Adams International Airport. The name of the parent company is AIRONE Ventures Limited (AVL), and the air venture will seek to form "the Caribbean's first low-cost carrier". The envoy, mainly from IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, had initially attempted to begin operations from Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
however, Jamaican aviation authorities
Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority
The Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority is the civil aviation authority of Jamaica. It has its headquarters in Kingston....
reportedly rejected their application for licenses. Following this, the envoy shifted focus basing operations from Barbados. The partnership is said to have begun as a partnership of a handful of business executives from Jamaica-based Digicel
Digicel
Digicel is a mobile phone network provider covering parts of Oceania, Central America, and the Caribbean regions. The company is owned by Irishman Denis O'Brien, is incorporated in Bermuda, and based in Jamaica. It provides mobile services in 26 countries and territories throughout the Caribbean...
. Digicel is also said to be a major player in the marketing regime/scheme for the airline. The airline have began seeking approval of U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
authorities to fly to that market in early 2010 and originally projected to commence operations on December 1, 2010. After 3 months of dedicated regional service the airline would then proceed with plans to service Fort Lauderdale and other US key destinations from the Caribbean. On October 16, 2010 Airone Ventures Ltd. launched their airline brand REDjet, at the Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford
Lloyd Erskine Sandiford
Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford, KA is a Barbadian politician. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of Barbados from 1987 to 1994....
Conference and Culture Centre formerly known as Sherbourne Centre.
Cargo
Besides the Arrivals and Departures terminals, 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.- Amerijet InternationalAmerijet InternationalAmerijet International is an American cargo airline headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It operates all-jet cargo services to destinations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean...
- CargoluxCargoluxCargolux Airlines International S.A., trading as Cargolux, is a cargo airline with its head office on the grounds of Luxembourg – Findel Airport in Sandweiler, Luxembourg. It is one of the largest scheduled all-cargo airlines in Europe with a global network...
- DHL AirDHL AirDHL Air UK, incorporated as DHL Air Ltd., is a cargo airline based in Hounslow, United Kingdom. It is wholly owned by Deutsche Post World Net and provides services on the group's DHL-branded parcel and express network in Europe. Its main base is East Midlands Airport.DHL Air Ltd...
- FedEx Express
- Seawell Air Services (SAS) Limited
- Tampa CargoTampa CargoTransportes Aéreos Mercantiles Panamericanos S.A., operating as Tampa Cargo, is a cargo airline based at José María Córdova International Airport in Medellín, Colombia. It is a specialized all-cargo airline transporting flowers from Latin America to Miami, as well as general cargo throughout the...
- United Parcel ServiceUnited Parcel ServiceUnited Parcel Service, Inc. , typically referred to by the acronym UPS, is a package delivery company. Headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States, UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers in more than 220 countries and territories around the...
Other facilities
The head office of the Barbados Civil Aviation DepartmentBarbados Civil Aviation Department
The Barbados Civil Aviation Department is the civil aviation authority of Barbados. It has its headquarters on the property of Sir Grantley Adams International Airport in Christ Church...
is located on the airport property, along the western edge of the arrivals terminal. In addition REDjet has its head office at the airport.
Incidents and accidents
- On October 6, 1976, Cubana Flight 455Cubana Flight 455Cubana Flight 455 was a Cuban flight from Barbados to Jamaica that was brought down by a terrorist attack on October 6, 1976. All 78 people on board the Douglas DC-8 aircraft were killed in what was then the deadliest terrorist airline attack in the Western hemisphere...
was bombed and crashed off the coast of Barbados in a terrorist attack by suspected CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operatives shortly after the plane took off from Barbados. The plane had landed in Barbados, and was en route to another destination. Persons linked to the attack, and said to be hired by Luis Posada CarrilesLuis Posada CarrilesLuis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles is a Cuban-born Venezuelan anti-communist and former Central Intelligence Agency agent....
had de-planed in Barbados and made plans to fly out of the country a short time later on an alternate flight. - In 2010, during the heightened traffic frequency of the tourist season (November through April), a number of chartered airlines and regularly scheduled carriers reported a series of 'bird strikes' on takeoff. These were not serious enough to cause any damage to the aircraft and they continued on to their destinations. After brief investigations, the 'birds' turned out to be small Vesper batVesper batVesper bats , also known as Evening bats or Common bats, are the largest and best-known family of bats. They belong to the suborder Microchiroptera . There are over three hundred species distributed all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica...
s, native to Barbados.
Concorde Museum
To the east of the main Sir Grantley Adams Airport is the 8534 m² (10,206.6 sq yd) site of the British Airways ConcordeConcorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
Museum on the old Spencers Plantation. The museum is part of the new expanded airport grounds. British Airways had granted the Government of Barbados one of their retired Concorde aircraft and BAC
British Aircraft Corporation
The British Aircraft Corporation was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs , the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with...
/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.
On 2 November 1977 G-BOAE was the same aircraft that Queen Elizabeth II travelled flying from GAIA to London Heathrow, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. That occasion was the first visit by Concorde to Barbados.
"Alpha Echo" was also the last Concorde to fly supersonic on November 17, 2003, on its delivery flight to Barbados.
In popular culture
- Scenes of the airport are featured in season six of the television programme Banged up Abroad.
- TBPB is one of the featured airports in the aviation game Microsoft Flight Simulator XMicrosoft Flight Simulator XMicrosoft Flight Simulator X, also known as FSX, is the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator after Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004...
and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 & 2002. Almost every airport in the world is part of this game so this representation is not unique to Barbados.
Awards
- 2002, 2003, 2004 - The "Caribbean's Leading Airport" - by the World Travel Awards
- In 2010 Airport Council International (ACI) recognised the airport as one of the best facilities in the region for service excellence. Under the section Caribbean and Latin America, Grantley was ranked as third following: Guayaqui (GYE), Ecuador and Cancun (CUN), Mexico, respectively.
External links
- Official website The Barbados Grantley Adams International Airport
- Club Caribbean Executive Lounge and Business Centre
- www.gaia.com.bb GAIA construction updates
- Immigration Policies and Procedures of Barbados
- Barbados Civil Aviation Department
- The Advertising company for the Grantley Adams airport - Many photos of the new airport terminal
- Specifics about GAIA
- Aerial photo, wikimapia.org
- Caribbean Aviation News