Argyle International Airport

Argyle International Airport, is a newly constructed international airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.The project broke ground in 2008, and the airport officially opened on February 14, 2017 when a Dynamic Airways charter flight became the first international aircraft to touch down at Argyle. During the construction of the new airport, the International Airport Development Company (IADC) faced numerous challenges and controversies, causing major delays in the construction process. This resulted in the airport being completed 5 years after the originally forecasted completion date.Caribbean Airlines and LIAT Airlines currently provide regularly scheduled passenger services at Argyle International Airport, with Air Canada scheduled to commence service at the end of 2017.CostsGovernment sources had originally stated that the airport project would cost around US$240 million or 700 million East Caribbean dollars and would replace the existing E.T. Joshua Airport. Other sources cite a figure of one billion ($1,000,000,000) EC dollars as being nearer to the cost of the project. Some sources indicate that, when complete, the airport will have a passenger capacity nearly four times that of the current working facility, the E.T. Joshua Airport.OverviewAttempts by the previous government led by Sir James F. Mitchell, Premier and Prime Minister of St.Vincent and the Grenadines for 19 years, (premier 1972-1974, prime minister 1984-2001) to lengthen the E.T. Joshua Airport runway were unsuccessful. Engineers had advised that the runway could have been extended by 2000 feet into the sea, as requested by American Eagle. At a projected cost of US $50 million, this would have allowed regional jets, with service as far as Miami and South America with up to 120 passengers, to safely fly in and out of E.T. Joshua Airport. According to Prime Minister Mitchell, his government invited tenders for the final design at Arnos Vale. He stated, "I turned over the contract documents for a successful tender by a Canadian company to my successor to sign, but he decided to wait until the next election and cancelled the visit arranged for Kuwaiti officials". The original conceptual designs for the airport were developed by RCGA Architects-Interior Designers.

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