Business View Caribbean October/November 2018

82 83 seas Territories Aviation Regulations (OTARS) and the Airports Act. The BVIAA operates three airports in the British Virgin Islands: the Beef Island Airport, renamed the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport in 2002; the Auguste George Airport in Anegada; and the Taddy Bay Airport on the island of Virgin Gorda. In addition, the BVIAA operates a water aerodrome in the North Sound and helipads on Beef Island. Since its incorporation, the BVIAA’s operating expenses have been underwritten by a gov- ernment subvention, an amount which was programmed to be reduced, over time, with the intent of having the Authority become com- pletely self-sustaining, and its operating funds generated by way of a departure tax, and var- ious user fees for security, development, and landing. Unfortunately, within a short period of time after its establishment, the BVIAA met with some strong headwinds. Denniston Fraser is the Managing Director of the BVIAA and also serves in the capacity of Executive Member of the Board.When Business View Magazine first spoke with Fraser in 2016, he explained the nature of the Authority’s first major challenge. “In 2007, when we had the recession, the airlift numbers went down,” he reported. “In addition, we had American Eagle, which operated quite a number of flights to San THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS AIRPORT AUTHORITY Juan with connections on to the rest of the U.S. and elsewhere. They ceased their operations in the Caribbean and that really affected our num- bers, as well. So, what we’re trying to do is get airlift back up, hopefully, beyond where we were in 2006, which was one of our peak years.” Dennison went on to talk about the inter- national airport’s master plan, which included some extensive infrastructure upgrades. “The principal reason for the expansion,” he con- tinued, “is so that we can have larger aircraft coming to the BVI. Currently, we’ve got a runway of about 4,900 feet, with about 4,000 of that, available for landing.With that type of length, we can just get commercial aircraft to Puerto Rico or anywhere closer than that. We’re hop- ing to have direct flights that will take us, at least, to Miami and possibly to New York, and Montreal or Ottawa. And for that, we recognize that we’re going to need at least 7,000 feet of runway. So part of our expansion plan is to in- crease the length of our runway.We also would, necessarily, have to increase the capacity of our AT A GLANCE THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS AIRPORTS AUTHORITY WHAT: Owner and operator of all airports in the British Virgin Islands WHERE: Town Tortola, BVI WEBSITE: www.bviaa.com