Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport

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Airport type
  
Public

Elevation AMSL
  
170 ft / 52 m

2,439
  
8,000

Phone
  
+1 869-465-8121

Location
  
Basseterre

07/25
  
2,439

Code
  
SKB

Municipality
  
Basseterre

Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport

Operator
  
St Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority

Address
  
Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis

Similar
  
St Kitts Marriott Resort, Adonis Tour & Beach fro, Timothy Beach Resort, Avis Rent A Car

Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport (IATA: SKB, ICAO: TKPK), formerly known as Golden Rock Airport, is an international airport located just northeast of Basseterre, on the island of Saint Kitts, serving the nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. It was named after the first Premier of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla (as it then was), Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw. In 2008, the airport handled 399,706 passengers.

Contents

Overview

A major renovation was completed in December 2006. The US$17 million project financed by loans from the St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank and Taiwan, includes expansion of the parking apron to accommodate six-wide-bodied aircraft at the same time, complete resurfacing of the 2,439 m (8,002 ft) runway and construction of a new taxi-way. Construction started late 2004. Up to 6 wide bodied jets can now be accommodated on the tarmac. The airport can accommodate commercial jumbo jets and handles scheduled non-stop jet flights to Canada and the United States, as well as numerous regional commuter flights from within the Caribbean area.

The largest aircraft now operating seasonal service to SKB is the Boeing 777-200 operated by British Airways. The airport also provides facilities for cargo and private jets. The largest aircraft ever to land here was a Boeing 747-400. A chartered Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340-300 made aviation history when they did a charter flight to St Kitts in 2011, a nearly 10,000-mile journey from Colombo-BIA, Sri Lanka.

Other facilities

The airport houses the St. Kitts Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 26 September 2009, British Airways Flight 2156 to V. C. Bird International Airport, Antigua, operated by Boeing 777–236 G-VIIR entered the runway through the wrong taxiway, prior to takeoff. This resulted in the aircraft having 695m less available for takeoff, compared to the correct taxiway entry. The takeoff was however completed normally with no injuries or other damages. The AAIB concluded in its report that the following factors contributed to the incident: "The airport authority had not installed any taxiway or holding point signs on the airfield. The crew did not brief the taxi routing. The crew misidentified Taxiway Bravo for Taxiway Alpha and departed from Intersection Bravo. The trainee ATCO did not inform the flight crew that they were at Intersection Bravo."
  • 12 August 2015 - Mountain Air Cargo 8124, a Cessna 208B Caravan I Super Cargomaster, en route to St. Kitts from San Juan crash landed in the water just off the island of Saba. The plane was encountering some engine problems and the pilot tried to divert the aircraft to Saba, but was unsuccessful and crash landed just off the island of Saba. The pilot was rescued before the aircraft sank to the bottom on the Caribbean sea.

    • References

    Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA