Douglas–Charles Airport

Douglas–Charles Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Government of Dominica
Operator Dominica Air & Sea Ports Authority
Serves Roseau
Location Dominica
Elevation AMSL 73 ft / 22 m
Coordinates 15°32′49″N 061°18′00″W / 15.54694°N 61.30000°W / 15.54694; -61.30000Coordinates: 15°32′49″N 061°18′00″W / 15.54694°N 61.30000°W / 15.54694; -61.30000
Website douglascharlesairport.com
Map
DOM
Location in Dominica
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 1,756 5,761 Asphalt
Source: WAD[1] Google Maps[2] SkyVector[3]

Douglas–Charles Airport (IATA: DOM, ICAO: TDPD), formerly known as Melville Hall Airport, is an airport located on the northeast coast of Dominica, 2 mi (3.2 km) northwest of Marigot. It is about one hour away from the second largest city Portsmouth. It is one of only two airports in the island nation of Dominica, the other being Canefield Airport located three miles (5 km) northeast of Roseau. Night service to the airport has recently been approved after a series of tests and studies by the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority and the International Civil Aviation Organization respectively.

History

The Melville Hall area was chosen as the site for Dominica's main airport in 1944, for it was the only place on the island with extensive flat land.[4] It was only after the completion of the Transinsular Road from Belles to Marigot, in 1958, that work on the airport began.[4][5] The facility opened on 22 November 1961, and was first served by Dakotas from BWIA.[5]

In 2006 an airport expansion and upgrade program began which entailed the expansion of the terminal building to include a new departure lounge, customs and immigration section and check in area. The runway and apron were also extended and new night landing and navigational aids were installed. These enhancements had an extended completion date of mid-2010.

The first-ever night landing using the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) was conducted on 9 August 2010 by the Caribbean airline Winair.[6]

Regular night landings at the airport began on 20 September 2010; the first flight, from LIAT, flew from V.C. Bird International Airport in Antigua. The Netherlands Antilles' Winair and Venezuela's Conviasa also serve night flights to the airport.[7]

The airport was renamed from Melville Hall Airport to Douglas–Charles Airport on 27 October 2014 in honour of Prime Ministers Rosie Douglas and Pierre Charles.[8]

Douglas-Charles Airport

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Air Antilles Fort-de-France(route paused), Pointe-à-Pitre
Air Sunshine Anguilla(route paused), Saint Croix, Saint Kitts(route paused), Saint Thomas, San Juan(route paused), Sint Maarten(route paused), Tortola(route paused),
Charter: Grenada(route paused), Saint Lucia, Trinidad(route paused), Virgin Gorda(route paused)
Fly Montserrat Charter: Montserrat
Fly One Caribbean St. Vincent-Argyle
InterCaribbean Airways Saint Lucia - Charles, Tortola
LIATAntigua, Barbados,
Seaborne AirlinesSan Juan
Sky High Aviation Services Charter: Santo Domingo
St Barth CommuterCharter: Saint Barthélemy
Trans Anguilla Airways Charter: Anguilla
WinairPointe-à-Pitre(route paused), Sint Maarten(route paused)

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Air Sunshine San Juan(route paused), Anguilla(route paused), Nevis(route paused), Sint Maarten(route paused), Tortola(route paused)

Incidents and accidents

  • On Tuesday December 4th 2012 an Amerijet Boeing 727 attempted to turn at the end of the runway and got stuck. The airport was closed for 2 hours. There were no damages or injuries.[9]
  • A Learjet 35 ran off the runway causing extensive damage, and the aircraft was written off.
  • An Air Anguilla Cessna 402 impacted terrain west of the airport, killing all 11 onboard, on August 23rd 1998.[10]

Other facilities

The airport houses the Dominica Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Airport information for TDPD at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
  2. ↑ "Douglas-Charles Airport". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Douglas Charles - International Airport". SkyVector. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 Honychurch, Lennox (2005). "Development and Welfare". The Dominica Story (3rd ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 0-333-62776-8.
  5. 1 2 Cracknell, Basil E. (1973). Dominica. David & Charles Ltd. pp. 103–4. ISBN 0-8117-0531-5.
  6. ↑ Staff (11 August 2010). "First Ever Night Landing Conducted at Melville Hall Airport". Dominica Central Newspaper. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Staff (15 September 2010). "Night Landing Officially Begins in Dominica on Monday". Dominica Central Newspaper. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "It is now Douglas-Charles Airport". Dominica News Online. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Aircraft stuck at Melville Hall". Dominica News Online. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "NTSB Identification: ATL98RA119". NTSB.
  11. ↑ "Dominica Outstation." Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved on 23 December 2012.


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