Ian Fleming International Airport Expanding to Accommodate Larger Aircraft

The Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), operators of the Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St Mary, is gradually expanding the facility, according to President Earl Richards.

The airport observed its first anniversary last week Thursday with a fly-in of eight private aircraft, which was part of the Air Journey's TBM Tour 2012 that is celebrating 100 years of the TBM single-engine turboprop airplane. A total of 27 persons came in for the celebration and spent the weekend in Ocho Rios.

Richards, speaking to reporters after the ceremony, said expansion of the airport, which is designed to accommodate small private aircraft, is being done gradually to accommodate larger airplanes, based on growing interest in the facility.

"What we have found is that we have more interest from larger aircraft than it was designed for, so we are making gradual improvements and extensions to make it capable of accommodating larger aircraft," Richards said.

The Ian Fleming International Airport, which was upgraded from an aerodrome and opened last year January, was designed to tap into the lucrative private and corporate aircraft sector, which Richards said was the largest sector of aviation in the world.

The airport's observance of its first anniversary coincided with Air Journey's celebration. Eight TBM 850, said to be the world's fastest single-engine turboprop airplane, touched down early Thursday afternoon. Former CEO of Cessna Aircraft Company, Jack Pelton, who led the group, was presented on the tarmac with a copy of Robert Davis' book, Jamaica By Air, by Captain Errol Stewart, CEO and director of operations at Caribbean Aviation Training Centre.

Later at the ceremony, Richards hailed the day as a special one, noting that the Air Journey TBM Tour 2012 coincided with the airport's first anniversary and Jamaica's 50th year of Independence.

Minister without portfolio in the Transport, Works and Housing Ministry, Dr Morais Guy, who spoke at the function, said the expansion of the aerodrome into an international airport has boosted not just intra-island travel but inter-island and international travel as well.