Piarco International Airport

Piarco International Airport (IATA: POS, ICAO: TTPP) is the main airport serving Trinidad and Tobago located in Piarco, a town in northern Trinidad, about 25 km (16 mi) east of the capital city, Port of Spain. It is one of two international airports serving the twin isle republic. The other is located on the island of Tobago, A.N.R Robinson International Airport. The airport has one runway and two helipads.

Piarco International Airport has direct service to destinations in the United States, Canada, Central America, South America and Europe. The airport is the hub for the national airline of Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean Airlines and is a third hub for Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT).

History

Early History

Considered one of the most modern airports in the Caribbean, Piarco Airport opened on January 8, 1931, to serve Venezuela's Compagnie Generale Aeropostale. Prior to this, the Queen's Park Savannah, the Mucarapo Field, and the Cocorite Docks (for flying boats) were used as airstrips to serve the island.

During World War II the original airfield was used to house the Royal Navy Observer School 'HMS Goshawk'. Starting in 1942, it was also used by both the United States Army Air Force Sixth Air Force and United States Navy air squadrons. The airport was used both as a transport airfield and also for antisubmarine patrol flights over the south Caribbean. It was returned to civil control after the war.

During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force stationed the following units at the airport performing antisubmarine patrols:

• 1st Bombardment Squadron (9th Bombardment Group) 24 April-29 October 1941 (B-18 Bolo)
• 10th Bombardment Squadron (25th Bombardment Group) 27 August-12 October 1943 (B-18 Bolo)
• 35th Bombardment Squadron (25th Bombardment Group) 27 August-12 October 1943 (B-18 Bolo)

Modern Day

A major expansion of the airport, which included the construction of a new terminal building, and high-speed taxiways, was completed in 2001. The old airport building is currently used for cargo handling. Piarco International Airport is also the primary hub and operating base of Caribbean Airlines and was also the primary hub and operating base of the now defunct BWIA West Indies Airways and Air Caribbean. Briko Air Services operates a flight school at the airport.

Facilities

At Piarco International Airport there are two high-speed taxiways and three connector taxiways (ICAO Code F for new large aircraft). This technologically state of the art airport has 82 ticket counter positions that operate under SITA's fiber-optic C.U.T.E. system which exceeds the recommended standards of ICAO and IATA. It also has a Flight Information Display System, which serves all airport users and a Baggage Information Display System.

The terminal is a fully air-conditioned, smoke free building, equipped to handle peak-hour passenger traffic of 1,500 processing passengers through a fully computerised immigration system. The Customs Hall has four baggage/cargo carousels.

An administrative/operations building for the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard is being constructed at the Piarco Air Base. Also, a military airfield will be constructed near the air base.

The control tower at the old terminal building is currently used for air traffic control. The tower at the new terminal building is used for ramp control and runway movement control. A new nine-story control tower is under construction, with radar unlike the existing one,it is scheduled to open in 2010.

The new North Terminal consists of 35,964 m² (387,110 sq ft) of building with 14 second-level aircraft gates for international flights and 2 ground level domestic gates. The overall layout of the building consists of three main elements: a landside core structure, a single level duty free shopping mall, and a 2-level 'Y' shaped concourse. 100-foot (30 m) cathedral ceilings and glass walls provide passengers and other visitors to the North Terminal with a sense of open space and magnificent views of the Piarco savannah and the nearby Northern mountain range. The public atrium has the largest glass dome in the Caribbean.

The airport is also large enough to accommodate most international widebody airliners including the Boeing 747, the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A340, medium sized aircraft including the Boeing 737, Airbus A310, Airbus A330-300, Boeing 767-200ER & 300ER as well as small aircraft such as the DeHavilland Dash 8 and other such turboprop aircraft. The airport layout consists of one main terminal building which includes three concourses. These concourses are not strictly identified as their name depicts but are divided into the following areas; Gates 1-7, Gates 8-14 and the Tobago concourse which serves flights to Tobago.

The Air Guard of Trinidad and Tobago is based at Piarco International Airport. During the existence of BWIA West Indies, its head office was on the airport property.^[3]

The disused south terminal has been renovated into a VIP terminal for the Summmit of The Americas. The North terminal has also received additional remote parking stands. In November 2009, upgrades on the south terminal were completed and the area now serves as a private/executive jet facility for high-end travellers.^[4]

The Airport underwent expansion and renovation works in preparation for the Commonwealth Heads Of Government summit in November 2009. These improvements included:

• Repaving and repainting of the taxiways.
• Re-painting of the runway.
• Installation of new Taxiway and runway lighting.

Terminals, airlines and destinations

Piarco International Airport has two terminals. The south terminal was once the passenger terminal for the airport but has been renovated to serve as an executive terminal. It serves cargo flights, general aviation and helicopter flights. It has fourteen parking positions as well as light aircraft parking. In addition it has the Airports Administration Centre, the head office of the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago.^[5] The North terminal is the main passenger terminal. It handles all the commercial passenger airline traffic. The north terminal has seventeen parking positions, with additional hardstands present to the east and west of the main apron.

In addition to passenger airlines,the airport also handles cargo traffic, general aviation, military and helicopter flights to the many oil rigs present offshore.

Passenger airlines

Charter airlines

Cargo airlines

Helicopter services

Accidents and Incidents

• 1963 - (January 5) A Cessna Skywagon carrying two Swedish persons, Torgny Sommelius (Pilot) and Erik Strandmark, crashed landed and caught fire at Piarco killing both of them (2 Deaths).^[7]
• 1984 - (July 29) An Aeropostal DC-9 flight from Caracas to Curaçao with 87 persons on board was hijacked in the air by 5 gunmen and forced to land at Piarco. The Trinidad and Tobago Government refused to negotiate with the hijackers and the aircraft departed hours later.^[8]
• 1990 - (January 17) A man jumped a fence and was sucked into a British Airways Boeing 747 engine. 1 death.^[9]
• 2001 - An Aeropostal MD-80 broke its nose wheel after falling into open trench on taxiway. No deaths.
• 2004 - There were a series of collisions involving ground operator Servisair and three separate aircraft (BWIA 737-800 reg. 9Y-GEO preparing to fly to Miami, BWIA A340-300 reg. 9Y-TJN, prepared to fly to London Heathrow, and Continental 737-800 en route to Houston's Bush Airport.) The damage done to the aircraft was minor. No deaths occurred.
• 2005 - (April 18) Tobago Express Dash 8-300 made an emergency landing after the nose wheel failed to deploy. No deaths.^[10]
• 2007 - Briko Air Cessna 172 crash-landed after a botched landing by a student pilot. No deaths.
• 2007 - In October, both Piarco and the Crown Point Airport were shut down for at least 2 days due to failed negotiations with the airport staff for better working wages. All flights operated through Piarco and Crown Point were canceled, severely disrupting passengers traveling to Caribbean and International destinations.
• 2007 - A Caribbean Airlines flight from Norman Manley International Airport with stops at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados and the Princess Juliana International Airport in Saint Maarten encountered smoke in the engine of a Boeing 737-800 upon arrival in Piarco. Auxiliary power was lost in the cabin, but there were no reports of injuries of the 84 passengers.
• 2008 - A Briko Air C402 suffered a failure of the right main gear and crash landed, closing the airport for two hours. No deaths.
• 2008 - August 15 An American Airlines Boeing 757-200 made an emergency landing after hydraulic system problems. The aircraft landed safely but the brakes locked up and the plane couldn't exit the runway. Passengers were ferried to the terminal and mechanics took some three hours to remove the aircraft, closing the airport to flight operations. No injuries.^[11]
• 2009 - Piarco and Crown Point International Airports suffered massive delays and cancellations after aircraft fuel plagued with massive amounts of sulphur was discovered, renderig the fuel unusable. Airlines to and from Piarco and Crown Point either cancelled or delayed their flights.
• 2010-(July 14) An American Airlines Boeing 767-300 operating flight 1668 to Miami International was forced to make an emergency landing at the field following a bird strike.No Injuries or deaths were reported among the 212 passengers and crew.
• 2011- (August 12) A North American Airlines plane was on approach near the Piarco International Airport just after 2pm when the pilots reported smoke coming from the cockpit. The aircraft managed to land safely at the airport with no injuries.

Awards

• 2006 - The "Caribbean's Leading Airport" - by the World Travel Awards^[12]

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links

• Trinidad and Tobago Airports Authority
• Piarco Airport online since 2001
• Airport information for TTPP at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
• Current weather for TTPP at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for POS at Aviation Safety Network