Winair makes historic

Winair makes historic
landing in Montserrat
after 10 years
By Suzanne Koelega

MONTSERRAT--Windward Islands Airways International (Winair) made
history Tuesday morning when it landed at the brand new airport in
Montserrat. The island and its population of some 4,500 have been
isolated from scheduled air service since the eruption of the
Soufriere Hills volcano in July 1995.

The landing of the first plane in close to 10 years was witnessed by
hundreds of people standing on the hill along the runway or on top of
the roof of the airport building, clapping and cheering when the Twin
Otter touched down. Captains Roberto Richie and Gavin Peterson
smoothly put the aircraft down on the freshly asphalted 1,600-foot
runway.

The plane, with members of Winair’s management team and the media on
board, was greeted by Chief Minister John Osborne and Airport Project
Manager Claude Hogan.

At the official ceremony that followed the landing, Osborne elaborated
on the economic importance of opening up the 39-square mile island
through Winair’s flights, which will be operating between Antigua and
Montserrat for round trips starting July 11. He said “many people”
were “afraid” to travel by sea, on the ferry between Antigua and
Montserrat. The only other way to get to the island is by helicopter.

The air service, Osborne said, will “open up” the island to the
outside world and “boost” the local economy. “Not only from a
historical, but also from an economical point of view this flight is
of utmost importance. People must be able to depend on an airline,” he
said, noting that the island was still recovering from the eruptions,
developing infrastructure and hotels. “I am optimistic that we’ll make
it, but it doesn’t take one day to rebuild a country,” he stated.

“This first testing flight gives us hope for scheduled flights in the
not too distant future. There are still a number of details to be
worked out for the airport to meet the standard for commercial
flights. Residents and visitors are looking forward to air service and
we anticipate good service from Winair,” said Osborne.

Winair’s Managing Director Edwin Hodge told those present at the
ceremony that 10 years had passed since Winair’s last flight out of
W.H. Bramble Airport in the east, which was destroyed by the volcano.
He called the first flight both a “sentimental and operational
journey,” mentioning that he had been on one of the last relief
flights.

Hodge promised the “best possible service” from Winair, an airline
that he said had an “excellent safety record.” Winair won the bid to
fly exclusively between Antigua and Montserrat for two years. Hodge
announced special introductory fares and other benefits of Winair’s
service.

He said that in the future, depending on the demand, there would be
direct flights between St. Maarten and Montserrat. The crowd at the
ceremony responded positively to that announcement.

Captains Richie, who brought the plane in Tuesday morning, and
Peterson, who flew the Twin Otter out, said they had a “very positive
impression” of the new landing strip and airport. They considered the
landing strip in Montserrat of the same difficulty as the ones in Saba
(1,200 feet) and St. Barths. They said this would restrict the
destination to some pilots who have special training in short takeoff
and landing procedures. The pilots made six landings in Montserrat
Tuesday.

The new airport at Gerald’s, opened by Princess Anne in February this
year, has been built in the safe zone. To make the runway, which
measures 600 metres, longer, the area at the end of the strip that
goes downhill was filled up. A tunnel was constructed underneath the
filled up part of the airstrip.

On Fri, 27 May 2005 00:52:11 -0400, Chrissy Cruiser
<doublebreasted@mail.com> wrote:

>On Thu, 26 May 2005 22:20:45 GMT, wester@laway.net wrote:
>
>> MONTSERRAT--Windward Islands Airways International (Winair) made
>> history Tuesday morning when it landed at the brand new airport in
>> Montserrat.
>
>Good for those poor, tortured people.

Damned right it's good. I can't wait to go back! I love M'rat, volcano
and all!

wester@laway.net wrote:

>Damned right it's good. I can't wait to go back! I love M'rat, volcano
>and all!

Actually flying in by the (for now, subsidised) helicopter service
is quite a lot of fun.
--
Ken Tough

On Sun, 29 May 2005 11:56:14 +0200, Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk>
wrote:

>wester@laway.net wrote:
>
>>Damned right it's good. I can't wait to go back! I love M'rat, volcano
>>and all!
>
>Actually flying in by the (for now, subsidised) helicopter service
>is quite a lot of fun.

Uh, I dunno...helicopters crash a lot. OTOH, I'd like to try it once
but I prefer twin engines....

Is it true that the new runway is second to none in cheap thrills as
in Saba and St. Barth's? I can't wait!

wester@laway.net wrote:

>Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk> wrote:

>>Actually flying in by the (for now, subsidised) helicopter service
>>is quite a lot of fun.
>
>Uh, I dunno...helicopters crash a lot. OTOH, I'd like to try it once
>but I prefer twin engines....

It is a twin (Eurocopter Dauphin), selected for fault tolerance
in the volcanic conditions.

>Is it true that the new runway is second to none in cheap thrills as
>in Saba and St. Barth's? I can't wait!

It's longer than Saba and Barths, though the manmade drop at the
windward end is very precipitous.

--
Ken Tough

Robert J Carpenter <rcarpen@erols.com> wrote:

>"Ken Tough" <ken@objectech.co.uk> wrote
>> Winair have claimed they'll do a Sint Maarten/Montserrat routing,
>> so that could tie in with the VI.

>The way I read the story they'll do the SXM route if it looks like
>there'll be adequate traffic. Winair is almost always in incipient
>backruptcy so they'll need either a subsidy for the route or enough
>real passengers.

They're based in SXM, so the Antigua->SXM route is really only
for practical reasons, bringing the aircraft back to base.

--
Ken Tough

Chrissy Cruiser <doublebreasted@mail.com> wrote:

>On Sun, 29 May 2005 18:46:44 +0200, Ken Tough wrote:
>>>Uh, I dunno...helicopters crash a lot. OTOH, I'd like to try it once
>>>but I prefer twin engines....
>>
>> It is a twin (Eurocopter Dauphin), selected for fault tolerance
>> in the volcanic conditions.
>
>Fault tolerance in electronics?

Huh? No, because its primary use is by scientists monitoring the
volcano, it must be able to cope with an engine dying because of
the ash or any other reason. The electronics aren't a major
concern (most likely). They don't allow flight under
instruments-only anyway.

--
Ken Tough