There has been little or no further information about the proposed expansion of Wallblake Airport since the flurry of press briefings and other meetings held over the past few months.

The most recent news passed on to the people of the island came last week following the Strategic Country Programme talks between Anguilla and British officials. A press release stated that the airport development will be one of the projects to benefit significantly from the EC$10,000,000 being allocated to Anguilla by the Department For International Development, in London, over the next two years. This will be a fulfillment of the undertaking given by the British Government to finance the design and supervision services of the airport.

There has been some discussion about this work which by now should be very much advanced. Although there is little information about the Government’s efforts to raise funding from other sources for the actual expansion work, it is assumed that this money will be forthcoming in due course. Before any construction work can begin, however, it is expected that the Government will conclude its negotiations with landowners and home-owners whose properties are to be acquired for the public purpose of expanding the airport. These persons are waiting to hear something and should not be kept wondering what is happening.

Of much concern to the tourism industry and the island as a whole is the need to have the airport ready in time for the introduction of larger aircraft. This is particularly so with respect to the new fleet of ATR-72 aircraft which the American Eagle is planning to introduce by the end of the year. The current section of the airstrip will be usable during the construction period and therefore will still be able to accommodate the present size of aircraft flying into the island, but the additional planned length will facilitate safer, better and larger operations.

Hoteliers were told at one of the meetings referred to above that work on the airport expansion would commence in September this year. They were informed that the completion date would be brought forward from September 2004 to around March that year. When questioned whether the project could really be completed in six months, the answer from one of the technocrats was not only an emphatic yes but that the project should be left to those who would be doing the work to decide. There is no doubt that such a time period will be a stiff one and if the project is to be completed within that time, there will be a need to have everything in place to speed up the work to meet the proposed completion date. Hoteliers will want to know how to design their marketing arrangements for the next tourism season and this is an important matter.

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