L.F. Wade International Airport , formerly named Bermuda International Airport, is the sole airport serving the

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

in the

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. It is located in the parish of St. George's and is northeast of Bermuda's capital,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

. In 2016, L.F. Wade International Airport handled about 402,925 passengers, up 5.6% from 2006. It has one passenger terminal, one cargo terminal, eight aircraft stands and can support all aircraft sizes up to and including the

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

. Currently, eight passenger or cargo airlines operate seasonal or year-round scheduled services to Bermuda Airport from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

History

The airfield was constructed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

for use as

Kindley Field Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Forces as ''Kindley Field''. History World War II Prior to American entry into th ...

, a joint

US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF)/

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) base. The RAF forces in Bermuda were withdrawn at the end of the War. The local RAF Commander, however, stayed on, on loan to the Bermuda Government. He converted the RAF facilities into the Civil Air Terminal, operated by the local government. When the pre-war airport, a flying boat facility on Darrell's Island, closed in 1948, Bermuda's air routes were taken over by land planes operating through the airfield. By then it was operated by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

, as Kindley Air Force Base. In 1970, the field was transferred to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, which operated it as US Naval Air Station, Bermuda until 1995. The US Navy terminated its 99-year lease and transferred the field to the Bermuda Government. It now operates the airport as part of the Ministry of Tourism & Transport. The US Navy was not required to meet international civil air standards, despite the operation of civil airlines to the base. The Bermuda Government, however, was required to meet these standards very quickly on assuming control, and at some expense. This involved changes to the airfield lighting, erecting new fences, levelling anything over a certain height and within a certain distance of the runway (including the former base commander's residence, and the hill it stood on), and other changes. The airport is at the west of St. David's Island, and to the south of Ferry Reach. This places it in the ''East End'' of the archipelago, several miles from the capital,

. The airfield was built between 1941 and 1943 by levelling Long Bird Island and several smaller islands, and filling in the waterways with reclaimed land between them and St. David's Island. This created a landmass contiguous with St. David's. The airfield is typically described as being in, or on, St. David's. The field originally had three runways, but only the longest is still in use. One of the others, most of which is on a narrow peninsula jutting into

Castle Harbour Castle Harbour is a large natural harbour in Bermuda. It is located between the northeastern end of the main island and St. David's Island. Originally called ''Southampton Port'', it was renamed as a result of its heavy fortification in the early ...

, has been blocked by munitions bunkers that were built at the harbour end. Additional bunkers are on the west side of the peninsula, which the US Navy had referred to as the ''Weapons Pier''. Airport workers, today, refer to it as ''The Finger''. The other former runway is today a taxiway to connect aprons one and two to the active runway, and the taxiway which parallels it. This was last used as a runway in 1978. It has its own former taxiway paralleling it, which now serves as a dispersal area for visiting aircraft. On 16 April 2007 the airport was renamed as "L.F. Wade International Airport" in honour of L. Frederick Wade, a former leader of the incumbent governing party (the Progressive Labour Party) when it was in opposition. The name was criticised by the opposition

United Bermuda Party The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was a political party in Bermuda, which represented itself as centrist party with a moderate social and fiscal agenda. The party held power in Bermuda's House of Assembly continuously from 1968 to 1998, the 47-yea ...

for being politically biased. On 16 March 2017, the Government of Bermuda signed an agreement with the Canadian Commercial Corporation, granting Skyport a 30-year concession to manage and operate the airport. In December 2020, a new terminal was completed, replacing the previous one.

Current operations

In 2017, the airport handled almost five hundred thousand passengers. Airline flight arrivals and departures usually peak June – August summer season. It has received high marks in passenger satisfaction surveys, placing first among North American airports in the "Under 15 million passengers" category in 2003 and fourth worldwide in its size category, according to the global airport monitor report that year. Cited were courtesy of staff, security, and check-in facilities. The former NATO hangar built in the early 1990s is now used for the airport's growing corporate jet traffic. Because of Bermuda's considerable distance from the nearest land mass, the airport's use by General Aviation aircraft is limited to jets and long-range turboprops. Only jet fuel is available. The airport offers US Customs and Immigration preclearance, which means US-bound passengers clear Customs in Bermuda; flights arriving in the US from Bermuda are thus treated as domestic flights. Air traffic control service is provided by CI2 Aviation under contract to Bermuda Skyport Corporation. The control tower is located on the north side of the airport (not to be confused with the old tower located at the terminal building) and provides service for most of the day and night. Approach, departure and en route traffic control in the surrounding Oceanic Sector is provided by New York Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZNY), under an agreement between the US Government's

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

and the United Kingdom. The BDA tower controller and ZNY center controller are always in close contact. Remote radio transmitters and air traffic radar coverage at the airport also link Bermuda and New York Center. A modern Doppler

Weather radar Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly pulse- ...

with a 150 mi. range was built by the DAO in 2005. Navaids at the airport, such as the

Instrument Landing System In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

(ILS) and VOR (

VHF omnidirectional range Very high frequency omnirange station (VOR) is a type of short-range radio navigation system for aircraft, enabling aircraft with a receiving unit to determine its position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a networ ...

), are owned by Skyport but maintained by CI2 Aviation. The airport was a

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launch abort site. It was only able to be used during low and mid inclination launches. The airport is also active in affairs of the Airports Council International (ACI), hosting the industry organisation's Legal Affairs Committee annual meeting in 2005. In 2006, ACI selected the airport to host its World Assembly, which was held in Bermuda in November 2010, attended by hundreds of delegates representing airports worldwide. The airport's current general manager is Aaron Adderley. A small portion of the south-east corner of the airport was transformed in the 1990s into Bermuda Motorsports Park. From March 2017, Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited will manage and operate L.F. Wade International. The 30 year airport concession includes construction of a new passenger terminal, which was completed in 2020.

Airport agencies

* Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited, the airport concessions company * Bermuda Airport Authority * The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA), responsible for aircraft registration, safety regulation, and accident investigation * Bermuda Immigration *

HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...

US Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...

, pre-clears passengers on most flights to the US * Airport Rescue Firefighting (ARFF), operated by Bermuda Fire Service from 2007 * Bermuda Fire Service, wast-end station sits astride perimeter, and provides support to ARFF * Airport Security Police, enforces ''airside'' regulations and security under contract to the DAO *

Bermuda Police Service The Bermuda Police Service is the law enforcement agency of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is responsible for policing the entire archipelago, including incorporated municipalities, and the surrounding waters. It is part of, and ...

, enforces ''landside'' parking and traffic regulations, and holds arrested persons * Bermuda Weather Service, operated by Serco under contract to the DAO

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Accidents and incidents

*On 6 December 1952 A Cubana de Aviación DC-4 crashed after taking off from the airport, killing 37 passengers out of 41 passengers and crew. *On 27 October 1962, a U.S. Air Force

Boeing RB-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-Range (aeronautics), range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic flight, subsonic speed and at high altitude ...

crashed on takeoff, killing all four crew members on board.http://b-47.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Boeing-B-47-Losses-and-Ejections.pdf

References

External links

Bermuda International Airport
official site
''Royal Gazette'' preview of new Airline Terminal
(December, 2020, video)

* ttp://weather.bm/tools/graphics.asp?name=250KM%20SRI Bermuda International Airport weather radar– real-time display {{authority control Airports in Bermuda Airports with United States border preclearance St. David's Island, Bermuda Civilian airports with RAF origins