Personnel from MICUH, the Ministry of Finance, and the Anguilla Air and Seaport Authority (AASPA) held a special meeting on Friday March 10th, to discuss the expansion of the Clayton J Lloyd International Airport.
“We are meeting basically to review where we are in relation to the planning for the Clayton J Lloyd International Airport,” Marcel Fahie, Chairman of the Anguilla Air and Sea Port Authority, told The Anguillian just before the meeting. He continued:
“Over the last few years, there have been discussions and approaches by various interest groups who have expressed a desire to make a deal with government to expand the airport.
“Last year, the Government at Executive Council took a decision to establish an Airport Development Committee and persons were selected but the Committee has not been activated, so one of the things we will be doing is looking at that – and secondly the British Government has indicated their willingness to provide substantial financial and technical support for the expansion of the airport project.”
Mr Fahie cautioned that the AASPA must be careful in its planning as mistakes can be easily made in undertaking such a huge project. He pointed out:
“And so, the British Government has emphasized the need for us to follow a careful planning process and they have recommended a process they have utilized in the UK in recent years that we should look at and adapt it to our needs. It should get us to where we want to be in terms of minimizing errors and enable us to build a business case for the expansion of the airport.
“It’s easy for persons to say they want a huge airport but a business case must be made on how is it going to be used; what are the costs of operating it; maintenance. Looking at those types of questions and a timeline to begin to get into this process…will get us through the planning process and be able to answer all the key questions.”
Noting that the current paved runway is 5,440 feet, Mr. Fahie observed: “The planning process will tell us what the ideal length is from a technical, financial and business standpoint and we will and come up with a programme of activities for the airport expansion project.”
Asked about the issue of land for the expansion, he stressed, land will be critical and suggested the need for perhaps Government to look at the Airport Zone – Corito, Forest and Tanglewood – as some kind of special development area to include the expanded airport.
