H.
Sergeant:
Good evening listeners. You
are listening to Radio ZJB broadcasting from the eastern Caribbean.
It is 5 minutes after 8. And
of course it is Wednesday night and you’re listening to Ask the Government.
As I promised last, week, this week, we’ll look at the Airport project.
And we have a full house here tonight.
Let me first of all introduce to you the panelists for this evening and
I’ll start with Mike Palmer. Now
he is a geotechnical engineer with the Halcrow Group, consultants retained to
provide the final designs of the airstrip at Geralds.
Mike is the lead engineer undertaking the soil survey and analyses at
Geralds. He will discuss the nature
and type of survey being conducted at Geralds with emphasis on its use, that is,
its end use. So let me say good
night to Mike.
M. Palmer:
Good night. Thanks for your
welcome.
H. Sergeant:
Next, let me introduce Nigel Harris, a pilot that some of you may know
and remember. And perhaps, more
importantly a former air service operator in the Caribbean with residence on
Montserrat but having a place of usual place of residence in the UK. And Nigel has been invited to give emphasis to the
operational conditions to be assessed and which will inform the efficient use of
the Geralds airstrip. Good night,
Nigel.
N. Harris:
Good night. Thank you for
that.
H. Sergeant:
And of course, we have Mr. Stephen Young, an engineer with the Department
for International Development (DFID) here on Montserrat and currently assigned
specifically to assist with the implementation of the airport project.
Stephen is particularly involved at this pre-construction stage with the
logistics and management issues associated with the safety studies to be
conducted at Geralds in addition to the provision of technical advice to the
consultants, the Halcrow Group with local company, Ken Cassell and Associates,
as partner. Welcome to the program,
Stephen.
S. Young:
Yes, good night. Good night,
listeners.
H. Sergeant:
And last, but by no means, least, Mr. Claude Hogan, a Member of
Parliament and he is the Project Manager for the temporary airstrip at Geralds.
Good night, Claude.
C. Hogan.
Good night, Herman.
H. Sergeant:
Claude will lead off the discussion for this evening.
He’ll sort of give you the purpose of this evening’s discussion and
the objectives and so forth. So
Claude, please take it away.
C. Hogan:
Thank you. Good night,
Montserrat. Good night,
Montserratians. I am very pleased
to be here.
And first of all, let me offer apologies for the Airport Manager, who due
to an ailment is unable to be here. I’m
also asked to apologize, of course, for having planned this program about a week
ago but not realizing that we had an incidence of possible overbooking which
came up this week with the honourable Minister of Agriculture, Housing, Lands
& the Environment. And thank
you very much Minister for realizing that between Radio ZJB Radio and the
Information Unit, all efforts were made to have this program put on tonight.
And even though I might have been trying to get out of it, it turned out
that you also supported the fact that we should go ahead and have this program.
So thank you very much Minister Margaret Dyer-Howe.
Montserrat is in a peculiar position in so far as regional and global
conditionalities dictate. Indeed
most of us wonder why some people do not share fully our complete view of our
island as one of the safest places to be on the planet.
Montserrat is quite a safe place to live when compared to some
neighboring islands with rising crime rates, etc. In other parts of the world, people are poverty stricken and
a range of diseases plagues their societies.
We pray daily for God’s divine intervention to alleviate people from
the wars and strife, which run rampant around and about us.
That is probably why many of us never resist the urge to support the
cause of missions as encouraged by our church leaders.
Unfortunately these conditions in these other countries are assessed
(regrettably so) perhaps very differently.
Here in Montserrat, there have been very few things that have upset the
balance and control of our inner most spirits.
And so despite the volcano, we remain a marvel to the world that we have
not yet set upon each other or have not given up on our resolve not only to
survive but to succeed. Truly in
Montserrat, they have found a people the world can call resilient.
What else is peculiar about Montserrat and Montserratians? We live everyday with a live volcano in our backyard, yet we
understand that the world is run by generally accepted rules.
Much of these rules are not set in stone but they do suggest that for the
many to survive and live in peace, there must be, of necessity, be such rules
among civilized men to ensure their sustainability as a people.
We in Montserrat have told the world by our actions that we resolved to
be a successful people and that we will work with whatever assistance we get to
achieve the maximum for ourselves and our children now and in the future.
When the Soufriere Hills Volcano started to erupt in 1995, the rules were
written for our island in economic terms. We
lost 2/3 of our most habitable lands and 98% of the island’s infrastructure
including our lone W.H. Bramble Airport. As
the years go by, less and less of our visitors understand the nature and
magnitude of our loss and they find that we have resettled in North Montserrat
as though we have been here for all time.
According to the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, now that we have entered
the 7th year of the erupting Soufriere Hills Volcano, the prognosis
is for at least a few more years of eruptive activity.
Taking into consideration that we are unlikely to return to Bramble
Airport and that the economic future and health of the island hinges on a proper
air transport service, the Government of Montserrat, under the esteemed
leadership of the honourable Dr. John Osborne, asked some international experts
along with local experts to apply multi-criteria analysis to assess a decision
on the way forward for the island.
This decision-making tool was developed for complex, multi-criteria
problems such as the choice between a temporary and permanent airport with
emphasis, perhaps in some quarters on there being no airport at all. And, of course, perhaps a continued struggle for some time
with our benefactors and the consequences of that, we’ll have to live with.
Or, do something to help ourselves the best way we can.
The points of consideration included safety concerns about an airstrip at
Geralds, the airstrip orientation, wind turbulence, volcanic ash exposure in
addition to economics, sustainability, airport usability, traffic, tourism
development, land acquisition, people living in the area, the
environment—there being a pond with birds and the use of Geralds as a possible
football and cricket facility.
But let’s look at some of these issues very briefly before the other
panelists talk to you about them.
Sustainability, Economics, Finance & Investment.
The airport is expected to be sustainable and thus technically save this
island the $12 million per year, which is currently subsidized in transport
services—the ferry and helicopter included.
Nobody else is willing to pay that kind of money after 2003 for the high
level of services, indeed the comfort level of services we need to make for this
island to work again.
The revenue for the airport will come from fares,
landing charges, parking charges, security charges and handling charges at the
airport set at economically, competitive rates. So, we have a good business plan.
Traffic is included in that.
A traffic forecast was undertaken by our last consultants, shortly called
SEA, “S,” “E,” “A,” to support (the Italians that is) to support the
viability of the Geralds airstrip. The
forecast gives good support to our justification and our intention to have an
airport at this time. By 2004 the
Twin Otter aircraft or aircrafts will be required to move—and these are from
the forecasts—66,000 people or passengers, 69,000 in 2005, 72,000 in 2006,
75,600 in 2007 and 79,400 passengers, many, perhaps more tourists, in 2008.
The airport operations are estimated to be
equal to plus 46% of the heliport operating costs that we engaged in 2000, last
year. Additional monies earned will
go into the Government Treasury to pay for healthcare, education, build new
roads, etc.
On the development side, Montserrat and the people of Geralds will
be able to establish a full-sized cricket field at Geralds as was always
envisaged. The design consultants
have been asked to include a costing for these works and a final cost-estimate
for the entire area, which will be considerably improved, including a number of
other works, which we’ll get to.
Tourism. Montserrat’s
potential as a niche tourism product is uncontested but the market will not be
waiting for us. And every day we
don’t have an airport is an opportunity lost for us to claim global market
share for tourists. We have
well-developed studies on the tourist traffic beyond 2003 but this will depend
on a good and effective tourism promotion plan and strategy as we hear the Chief
Minister speak about repeatedly.
Social issues, environmental impact, noise pollution and employment. These
will all be considered and addressed within the social impact to be undertaken
by the Community Services Department.
The choice of a temporary airport was also informed
by the type of aircraft. The
recommended aircraft is the Twin Otter with a maximum seating capacity for 19
passengers. The recommended length
of the airstrip for this aircraft includes all consideration for emergency
landings, etc.
Obstacle limitation services.
Safe operations of any aircraft in to and out of any airport is
guaranteed only if the area is safeguarded from obstacles.
The obstacle limitation services are laid down in ICAO, that is, the
International Civil Aviation Organisation Annex 14 of their regulations and were
considered in the preliminary studies.
The runway.
The analyzed data from a wind rose, including strength and direction of
wind at Geralds has confirmed, so far, the usability of the airport at 98.7%.
The ICAO recommends that this should not be less than 95% of the time for
obvious safety reasons.
The best orientation for the airport is currently near a perfect
east-west alignment of 92° from north and 272° from north. For pilots, that is interpreted to be heading 09-27.
I have a pilot who’ll discuss those with us very shortly.
For economic, financial calculations, we can assume 100% usability
of the airstrip since all scheduled flights will be able to land at some point
on any given day. The runway will
be of asphalt with navaids and adequate lighting for night landing to be
provided.
Apron & taxiway. These
will be designed to allow the simultaneous presence of two Twin-Otter type
aircraft with power in or power out operations.
These are recommended areas to be paved. There will be a helicopter landing area or a helipad to allow
continued helicopter operations during and after the airstrip project.
Terminal area.
Preliminary indications are that we will need to rebuild the existing
terminal depending on the final orientation and alignment of the airstrip.
Firefighting. Facilities will
be installed to ensure the usual firefighting equipment is available at the
airport.
Roads. An
alternative road will be provided for entry into Geralds from the main road
running across the hospital and possibly crossing under the runway via a tunnel.
The current Geralds road will become a dead-end road, as traffic will not
be allowed across the runway, which will cross over the current access road.
Land acquisition.
The majority of landowners to be affected by the project have been quite
cooperative with the exercise so far. A
range of options has been discussed with them or those whom we have been able to
speak to for dealing with the relocation, re-housing, purchasing and the broader
social impact issues to be dealt with. I
am to receive a report from the Community Services Department confirming
mitigating measures and measures to alleviate the pressures and impact of the
relocation exercise.
The project has a positive result for those
residents on Geralds Park currently in the squatter area.
They will now need to be given almost immediately, at least between now
and June 2002, a solution for their housing.
The Housing Department is working overtime to make this possible along
with the Land Development Authority and some houses have commenced building. At least one house has commenced building to deal with one of
those residents and lands have been identified for another.
Stages of Implementation. We
are currently at the design stage, which is programmed up to March-end 2002 when
we should have the final designs. By
June 2002 we hope to go to contract for construction to start by August this
year.
Assumptions we have made.
These include that the lands that we need for the airstrip will be
bought, all of the social issues addressed, and people are adequately and
effectively relocated.
Financing for the project
will come from the European Union under the Regional Indicative Program.
The financial proposal has already been submitted by the Department for
Development, the Development Unit. The
rest of that financing will come from the Department for International
Development-United Kingdom and a little bit of it, from our own Treasury here
from the Government of Montserrat.
Environmental Impact. We have agreed a way forward for a full
environmental impact assessment to be done at Geralds before July and for our
environmental impact program to be implemented in consultation with our Ministry
of the Environment.
Monitoring and evaluation. Hopefully, with adequate monitoring and ongoing
evaluation on my part and others as we move along, the project will go to
construction in time by August this year and be completed and operational, that
is, meet all license requirements by early 2004.
In conclusion, at around $EC40 million this project
of the airport we’re building at Geralds will be one of the largest,
sustainable projects to be implemented in Montserrat to date.
This means we will have an air transport system in place, which for the
time being, does not cost us anything to run but the customers will pay for the
service as they use it. Hopefully,
more and more tourists will come to Montserrat and not only support the service
but bring or facilitate the overall development of the island’s people as they
contribute to revenue intake and overall economic activity on Montserrat.
We are moving late on this airport, a few years late, but it is a case of
better late than never, at this point. We
should thank the many civil servants from the many departments who have added
airport construction-Geralds to their daily work. Together, we can make it possible, Montserrat.
Thank you.
I will now continue to deal with the facilitation of the input from our
panel here before we go to the moderator, Mr. Sergeant. Could I proceed on that?
Thank you. We have as Mr.
Sergeant outlined, Mike Palmer with us and Stephen Young and Nigel Harris.
Mike you are here as a geotechnical engineer from Halcrow. Could you tell us why you are proposing to dig pits, trial
pits at and around the area earmarked for the temporary airport at Geralds?
M. Palmer:
Ok. Thank you Claude for
your welcome and I also would like to thank the people of Montserrat that I have
met so far for their very kind welcome. I’d
like to say on behalf of Halcrow that we are very pleased to have been awarded
this contract and we are also very proud to be involved in this important
project for Montserrat.
Last week I had a meeting with the airport team in England and it was
decided that it would be beneficial if I could mobilize very quickly to site
ahead of the rest of the team to provide some useful information. Now what I will be doing on site will be looking around the
area of the airport to undertake some geological mapping and some
geomorphological mapping. And,
these will be backed up by about 30 trial pits to allow me to examine the
subsurface geology and also to take some samples for testing.
Now these—as part of the design of the airport, there’s going to be
some very large embankments and cuttings. These
will help me to design those safely and also there’s a requirement to balance
the amount of cutting and filling in the optimization of the airport alignment
and design. And so these trial pits
will allow me to accumulate the information to feed back to the designers on
that purpose.
C. Hogan:
These data will be analyzed how?
M. Palmer:
Well, the—Based on engineering properties of the materials that I have
observed in the trial pits and from my mapping, they’ll be classified and
certain properties can be assigned to these materials.
Also from the lab testing, we’ll be getting design parameters for that.
Also, we’ll be identifying where the materials occur and therefore,
we’ll be able to work out the quantities of material that will be suitable for
use in the embankments for the runway.
C. Hogan:
And this information you propose to collect and the way the design
engineers will use it, how will this impact the air traveling public?
M. Palmer:
Well, ultimately the—it will affect the position and the length of the
runway. It will—as I mentioned,
these earthworks are going to be very high at 40 feet embankments and cuttings
and so we’ll make sure they are designed safely and also that the runway will
be stable and won’t be suffering from settlements.
H. Sergeant:
Claude, if I can come in with a question?
As far as the stability of the runway is concerned, what role would
rocks, for example, play in this?
M. Palmer:
Well, we’ll have to make sure that the rocks and the soils are properly
compacted so we want to use different types of materials at different levels in
the embankments and the specification will be identified from the materials.
And they will also be used in terms of costing.
At the moment, we want to find the optimal runway alignment and length
and working out where the materials are going to come from is an important part
of this optimization.
H. Sergeant:
Would that be available in Montserrat in terms of the material?
M. Palmer:
Well certainly. In terms of
keeping costs down and also keeping the money within the island of Montserrat,
we definitely want to find both materials for the embankments and also aggregate
materials within the island and as close as possible to the proposed airport.
C. Hogan:
And we have Stephen Young as part of this interactive, dynamic process of
information elicitation. And
Stephen, as you know, is an engineer and there are a lot of things that are said
that sometimes fly over my head because I am a social scientist and you’re a
physical scientist, Stephen, so.
First of all there are these safety issues, which we have been
progressing and you have been taking a significant lead and assisting in
satisfying the requirements for equipment, installation and so on. Where are we in respect of that?
S. Young:
Yes. Thank you Claude. Well, obviously the project is starting to move forward into
the design phase now. We’ve had
the Italian consultants working here, SEA, who did the preliminary studies and I
think we were very conscious working with them at that time, that safety was
really one of the primary considerations, if not the foremost consideration in
looking at any airport in this location. And
they came back from their initial work with all of the reassurances that the
Government and we, ourselves, were looking for in terms of the safety of the
site there.
Obviously, there were some additional investigations that were suggested
that should be carried out at the design stage and those are the additional
activities that Halcrow are now moving ahead with.
C. Hogan:
The wind studies, safety studies—everybody is concerned about
turbulence. We do have studies
being organized for those, right?
S. Young:
Yes, that’s right. That’s
right. Some of the studies that
have been suggested and indeed are moving ahead now are to do with collecting
additional data relating to the wind actually at the site.
Your airport team are already collecting data on a regular basis there
and indeed that’s already been made available to Halcrow, the designers.
But we are supplementing that with additional instruments around the site
and the Airport Manager is handling the installation of those.
And we were talking about it today and he hopes that those instruments
will be up and running by the end of this month.
So they’ll be collecting that supplementary data to give us a fuller
picture of the wind conditions at the site.
H. Sergeant:
Mr. Young, if I can come in with a question here.
The safety question is a constant question for members of the public.
How absolutely sure are you that these safety concerns or the questions
are being fully answered?
S. Young:
I’m absolutely confident that when we have built this airport, it will
be a safe airport. And the reason I
can say that so categorically is that there are standards; there are guidelines
developed by the International Civil Aviation Authority and those are going to
be used within the design process. So
Halcrow will be working closely with ICAO.
They’ll be working closely with the UK Civil Aviation Authority who
will advise on the licensing of the airstrip and so we will make sure that all
of the considerations that need to be taken into account to make sure the
airport is safe will be taken into account.
H. Sergeant:
How many feet above sea level is Geralds?
S. Young:
The Geralds site it’s about 550.
H. Sergeant:
Is that high or is that a usual number as a figure in terms of the sea
level for an airport?
S. Young:
No. I mean, we’re, we’re
obviously higher than, for instance, the old airport site was down at Bramble
but to some extent, you know we get away from some of the low-level turbulence.
Perhaps, I’ll let Nigel talk to some extent, about the wind conditions
at that height. But certainly,
there is no indication of any problem so far happening with an airstrip at this
level.
C. Hogan:
Before we get to Nigel because I want to let us get to the operational
side of things fully in deference of Nigel as an experienced person. And I know you know some of these answers Stephen but you are
an engineer and I want my people to get it from the horse’s mouth, so to
speak.
We’ve been talking about the possibility of conditionalities or wind
factors, as Herman raised, which give rise to turbulence and this was
highlighted in some reports. Our
own pilots have spoken about it in the newspaper.
Can we have something, looking down the road a bit, a manual of some
kind, which will provide the basis for advising aircraft landing at Geralds?
S. Young:
Yes. There will be
operational guidelines developed by the operators coming in and out of the
airstrip, which will mean that at some instances, they don’t fly.
Now, the big question, of course, is how frequently will those
circumstances prevail? And again,
you referred, I think Claude, in your introductory remarks to the 98.7, I think
it is, percent availability that is anticipated for this airport.
The alignment that we are currently looking at is almost directly aligned
parallel with the prevailing winds and so we shouldn’t get too many cross
winds. And it’s the cross winds
that are the real difficulty for pilots and so in that sense, the alignment that
we are looking at here is a very safe alignment.
It is an alignment that should give us a very high frequency of
operation.
C. Hogan:
Let’s talk a little bit more before we get to you Nigel. I’m almost wanting to bring you in right here and now but
let’s just exhaust Stephen for the time being.
Now, I’ve said and I stand by that that we can have 100% usability even
though we are setting it at 98.7 because even if a plane is delayed and we are
talking about a scheduled flight here being delayed, at some during the day or
during the period, that plane will eventually arrive in Montserrat.
But naturally, that could be a problem.
Do you envisage that this could be a persistent challenge for pilots,
travel agents and people with inter-airline connections to Antigua, St. Kitts,
St. Martin or Guadeloupe as the case might be?
S. Young:
Certainly, no. It is not
anticipated as being that. I mean
there will be extreme cases when things will have to shut down but those cases,
we anticipate will be very limited. I
mean, I myself was going through Antigua airport just before Christmas and there
was a freak storm came through and the airport shut down for an hour or so.
But it very quickly after that opened and got back to normal.
So clearly circumstances like that will happen from time to time but
certainly not within any undue inconvenience to travelers.
C. Hogan:
And I do recall we did shut down at the Antigua airport and the Puerto
Rico airport with ash. I hope we
don’t shut down our own airport. In
any event, Nigel, we have had so much talk on this airport from the experienced
people and you are one of those people and getting it from the horse’s mouth
is really important.
How do you assess the operational potential of the proposed airstrip at
Geralds?
N. Harris:
Thank you for that Claude. Before
I answer that question, just let me say to the people of Montserrat it’s a
pleasure being back on the island and both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the
six years that we operated here as Montserrat Airways right up to the time, they
took our airport away, unfortunately. But
it is a pleasure being back and we would hope to fly from here again one day in
the very near future.
Addressing the question that you’ve asked me about the operational
potential of the airport—the constraint, obviously is the 500 meters. We have to be quite clear on that. Having said that, there are aircraft more than capable of
operating into a 500-meter strip. You
mentioned the Twin Otter, for example, that will operate at maximum loads quite
happily into a 500-meter strip. There
are other aircraft also capable. We
are looking at possibly a Dornier 228, which may be possible.
Certainly an Islander will operate into a 500-meter strip, but not at
maximum all-up weight. So for charter purposes, for six people, possibly, an
Islander could also come in. So the
restriction is the 500 meters.
In terms of the site, I find the site to be a far better site than the
old airport at Bramble. It
certainly, from my initial opinion, a safer site than the old airport at
Bramble, in so far as the approaches are considerably better.
So operationally with the constraints of the runway limitation, yes, I
don’t see any major problems.
C.
Hogan:
Many people wouldn’t believe you about the Bramble but the data even at
ICAO and in our license registration information did put Bramble at a 94.8%
usability, which is slightly below the 98.5% that they recommend.
How come that was
acceptable?
N.
Harris:
I can’t answer your percentage in terms of acceptability.
In practical terms I can tell you why the new airport should be more
accessible. The approach is in to
Bramble as you probably remember, with the prevailing wind, meant that we had to
make a fairly sharp turn onto finals. During
the daytime that was not too much of a problem.
At night, it was quite challenging sometimes and if the crosswinds were
such that it made it difficult to land, then indeed, flights were cancelled.
I can recall many times, LIAT not coming in in the evening due to the
crosswinds problems at Bramble and the difficult approach.
I cannot see how those problems will exist at the new airport.
My view is that the approach would be far easier, far less challenging to
a pilot. Therefore, of course, the
percentage in terms of landing should be higher.
C. Hogan:
So Bramble was a good airport in terms of at the right spot and so on,
the right sea level, but I think we did have a plan to change the orientation
because it was the orientation that was more than a bit off.
N. Harris:
Yes. That’s correct. The orientation in terms of the inability to make a direct
approach and of course, it was not perfectly aligned in terms of wind.
C. Hogan:
Ok. Well let’s say if
you’re doing something twice, you do it right the second time, at least.
You are also involved in the high-end tourism market in the UK where
packages are prepaid or I should say in Europe where packages are prepaid for
special tourist destinations like Montserrat.
From this perspective, can you comment on the potential for Montserrat as
a niche market product with inter-line connectivity to Virgin or British Airways
where you can book flights and say you have a hub directly to Montserrat when
you arrive in Antigua or wherever?
N. Harris:
You’re asking me several different questions there, Claude. If I can sort of …
C. Hogan:
I’m giving you a big ball field to walk or roll around in.
N. Harris:
If we can sort of break that down and take them one at a time.
In terms of a tourist destination I think we’ve covered that fairly
clearly that Montserrat is an ideal niche market, in terms of the volcano, in
terms of the climate, etc., etc. I
think we’ve covered that ground many times.
So, yes there is potential as a niche market into Montserrat.
Accessibility is one of the major keys; it is not the only one. Certainly tourists will put up with so much trouble in
getting to somewhere but as things progress in the world people are used to
getting somewhere in a day and I think it’s this one day of travel that is one
of the key elements. If people can
fly from Europe or North America into a connecting airport, which doesn’t have
to be Antigua even though it’s the obvious one—there are other suitable
interconnecting airports in the region such as Guadeloupe, San Juan and St.
Martin—providing they can have a fairly painless transit through these
airports and on to Montserrat in the same day, then I think that will encourage
people to come here. And people do
not like overnighting in Antigua. It
is definitely a one-day operation.
In terms of packaging, yes this can be done.
We’re not looking at mass tourism.
We are looking at the niche players, the small packaging companies, the
small tour operators who tend to work at the expensive end of the market which I
think is good for Montserrat. And
yes they would be attractive and I would propose that we should look at that as
part of the development of the airport.
In terms of inter-line agreements and interlining, that’s another
separate question. If someone is
going to buy a ticket in Europe or northern Europe or northern America, they
want one ticket that takes them through to Montserrat.
And the way we have to do that is to enter into inter-line agreements
with the major carriers such as British Airways, American and the other people
that come down long haul into Antigua and Guadeloupe. This we can do and I would hope to have that in place before
the airport opens so that people can actually check in at Heathrow or New York
directly through to Montserrat.
H. Sergeant:
Nigel, obviously Montserrat would have the potential for charter services
being in quite a unique spot really. You
had a charter service in Montserrat at one point.
Would you be interested in starting up something again in that area?
N. Harris:
We’d be interested in scheduled services, which we do in the UK and
indeed charter services as well. On
the question of charter services, there are two dimensions.
There are charter services from the island off the island, which many
people will recall we operated for shopping trips to Guadeloupe, trips to St.
Martin and of course, air ambulance flights which are effectively a charter,
which we were doing between one and two air ambulance flights to Antigua,
Barbados and Guadeloupe, every week. I
think people may have forgotten that.
So there is potential for charter flights off island for local people and
indeed tourists. If people are
staying here for some time, they quite enjoy the opportunity to visit another
island without having to change aircraft in Antigua as they do at the moment.
And then there is indeed, all island charters, where not only ourselves
but other charter operators with appropriate equipment, appropriate aircraft,
indeed can make charters into Montserrat, which helps the economy here and the
viability of the airport.
H. Sergeant:
So you’ve been having discussions already in terms of starting up this
business in Montserrat?
N. Harris:
We have indicated that we would be very interested in returning to
Montserrat. We like it here very
much indeed. And yes, we have the
ability to operate an airline here. And
I shall be talking further with Claude and his colleagues as the project
develops.
H. Sergeant:
And the scheduled service, would you be starting that out—I’m not
sure, Claude, if LIAT already has any opinion on this.
C. Hogan:
No. We haven’t reached
that point yet. I think that in
respect of how it’s going to go. I
have my own views, but we have to discuss it with the Minister of Finance, which
is the Chief Minister.
H. Sergeant:
I have a question. Nigel you
mentioned that this airport here—proposed site for the airport is safer than
Bramble. Many people would find
that very difficult to actually believe. On
what do you base that?
N. Harris:
Well, there are several considerations and criteria for establishing.
I mean we have some more work to do.
We’re looking at doing some survey flights in the near future to
actually assess the impact of any potential turbulence or wind shear on the
proposed site and until those tests are carried out, it is very difficult to
emphatically say that it’s a 100% safer than the old airport.
C. Hogan:
This is personal opinion, I think.
N. Harris:
However, the indications that I have at the moment for the reasons I gave
earlier and I’ll reiterate that. The
direct approach from a pilot’s point of view makes it considerably safer.
This having to turn finals at 500 foot with a sharp turn, it is safe, but
it is not comfortable. So a direct approach makes it safer. The fact that the runway is aligned pretty much into wind,
considerably more into wind than the old airport makes it easier.
We don’t have to cope with crosswinds as often.
So those two criteria make it a safer airport in my view.
It just looks fine to me at the moment but we have some more work to do.
We have some more work to do. But
on those two points alone I think it makes this a safer airport.
C. Hogan:
Might I comment on the inter-wind situation?
Because I think up to this point, we had thought that flying in Geralds
could overturn a plane, the winds are so heavy, but the way I understand it and
we have a pilot here and we have engineers here, the way I understand it and
I’m telling the people is that when you fly into the wind directly, in fact,
it improves your landing ability.
N. Harris:
Yes. It effectively shortens
the length of the runway by the amount of wind so the greater the headwind
component, the shorter the runway we actually need.
So, yes, that leads on to it being safer, I suppose.
An aircraft is certified for certain wind conditions and the manufacturer
of that aircraft will recommend specific winds for that particular aircraft.
And it’s specified in two different ways.
We talk about a maximum crosswind limit.
By a crosswind, the maximum crosswind will occur 90° from the runway.
OK? And at 90°, the
manufacturer will say, we recommend you do not fly in more than, for example, 30
or 35 miles per hour winds, which are quite strong.
So most aircraft would cope with a 90° wind at something like 30-35
knots, dependent on the type of aircraft.
Flying directly into wind there is not a manufacturer recommended
maximum. However, operationally, we
would put a maximum on that in conjunction with talking to the authorities, the
civil aviation authorities of something like 50 or 60 knots so that the maximum
wind straight on the runway we would fly on would be something like 50 knots.
H. Sergeant:
What aircraft is the safest aircraft to use at Geralds like this with the
shortness of the runway, the crosswinds like we mentioned and all the other
factors?
N. Harris:
Well, there are more than one but for various reasons we have to look at
the Twin Otter first. It’s a very
rugged aircraft. It’s an aircraft
that’s been proven over a long period of time flying into difficult airports.
I emphasize that this is not a difficult airport.
The Twin Otter is used in Alaska and Africa and all sorts of places, off
of dirt strips, for example. It is
a rugged aircraft. It is capable of
handling crosswinds and it’s a relatively easy airplane to fly from a
pilot’s point of view. It also
has very, very reliable engines.
H. Sergeant:
Can I bring in one of the engineers, here?
C. Hogan:
Let me ask him one last question.
H. Sergeant:
Yes, please do.
C. Hogan:
You said—I am in an interesting position because people don’t expect
me to ask questions but we are doing a dynamic forum, presentation—listeners,
so that you are able to get the same information from a multiple number of
experts, which are available to me and I myself will be handing to the moderator
shortly so we—I’ll be available to you for questioning on those issues in
which I have competence.
My question is—you mentioned that you might be interested in operating
charter services over here or even getting involved in regular service
operations, scheduled service operations. Would
you (and I’m being the devil’s advocate) would you want your plane to
overnight in Montserrat? Would you
overnight your plane in Montserrat? This
is important because tourists would come to an island.
They want to know they can get off the island overnight if something
happens, there’s a plane down there on the pad waiting.
Will you—would you consider overnighting and what would you want?
N. Harris:
The emphatic answer to your question is yes.
I think we should have overnight. I
think we should be a Montserrat airline. I think it should be based in Montserrat, not off island for
lots of considerations. I think
there’s a psychological one that says people would like to have an aircraft
based on Montserrat. The aspect of
air ambulance evacuations is obviously one point in hand and the fact that
people can get off island. So,
psychologically I think it would be exceptionally good to have an aircraft based
on Montserrat. But I think we need
to have an airline of our own. I
think for the last few years, we’ve depended on people off island.
C. Hogan:
Ok, we have to wait for the Minister of Finance on that. Let’s go to DFID. DFID
what do you think about his point on that?
N. Harris:
I’d like a hangar, please.
C. Hogan:
He says he would like to have a hangar.
N. Harris:
I would like to have a hangar.
C. Hogan:
We don’t have a hangar in our plan.
S. Young:
Clearly what we’ve seen already is the designers of the airstrip have
been talking to operators in the region. We
must at the end of the day have operators prepared to come into and out of this
strip. As Nigel has indicated, you
know it’s something that he finds very attractive.
I think we all would want to see some competition in actually developing
the service so that we make sure that obviously Montserrat is getting the best
value it can. In specifying that
service, the Government may choose to make certain criteria.
And perhaps one of those criteria may be there has to be an aircraft in
Montserrat overnight. But that’s something obviously to specify with the
operators at that time.
N. Harris:
If I could just quickly come in and say that yes, I would like to have an
aircraft based on Montserrat overnight but due to the …
C. Hogan:
We haven’t talked to the Minister of Finance, yet so hold on.
N.
Harris:
It’s completely an operational comment, Claude, completely an
operational comment that says if you’re going to base an aircraft here it must
be hangared because of the salt and the potential for corrosion.
The expense of having an unhangared aircraft here would probably throw it
out the window.
C. Hogan:
Point taken, point taken. I
thought you were going to talk as the Minister of Finance.
N. Harris:
No, no, no. Actually it’s
operational.
C. Hogan:
Let’s retire from this part of the session, the interactive, dynamic
forum and we’ll pass the entire question moderation to Mr. Sergeant who’ll
deal with telephone calls.
Gentlemen I think we have given the people of Montserrat the relevant
information to get them to consider what we are doing for Montserrat and for the
future of Montserrat. I can’t say
thank you yet because the program is not over.
Let’s hear the feedback through the moderator.
Thank you.
H. Sergeant:
Thank you very much Claude and listeners, you can now call in if you wish
and I’ll give you two numbers. Of
course, most of you would know them but I’ll repeat them anyway: 491-7227 and 491-9064. And
right away, our telephone lines are going so gentlemen, can you please put on
your headsets so we can get our first question from our first caller.
Good night.
Caller:
Good evening, panelists. Good
evening, Herman.
H. Sergeant:
Good evening.
Caller:
I have been listening to your program from the beginning.
Did you say that the new airstrip at Geralds can accommodate Twin Otter?
C. Hogan:
Yes, that’s what we aid.
Caller:
And that’s 19 seats, right?
C. Hogan:
Yes.
Caller:
Is there anyone on the panel who can determine whether we’ll have an
air shuttle service like every hour or what?
Because I’m thinking in terms of the numbers of people that will want
to come in and out of Montserrat at any one time.
And let me ask you another question.
How would the ferry factor into this?
Would we still have a ferry service?
I’ll hang up and listen to the responses.
H. Sergeant:
Thank you very much, caller.
N. Harris:
Nigel Harris. If I can take
the first part of that question in terms of shuttle service, whoever the
operator or operators end up being into the airport.
I mean, they will produce a business plan on the viability of it and that
would dictate the services and clearly we’re looking at several return flights
per day as a schedule basis. And
that would have a seasonal effect to it in the period leading up and after
Christmas. Obviously, we would do
more flights than we would do possibly off-season.
In a (indecipherable) we would be doing charter flights, I’m
sure. In terms of a shuttle service
on the hour, every hour, my initial indication, certainly in the first year
would be that would not be a viable proposition.
C. Hogan:
On the question of the ferry, I’m really concentrating and strictly
focused on getting the airport into place.
The Government of Montserrat has on overall comprehensive transport study
done by a company called Roughton and that study speaks to the more adequate use
of the ferry once the airport comes into commissioning. Now I can say that to make this airport a successful venture,
we will need to maximize the number of passengers we transport by aircraft and
we are anticipating that most people will choose to fly. I cannot comment on the total future of the ferry but I’ll
ask Stephen to also comment since he’s closer to the study.