With a length of 200 meters and 15 meters wide, a new taxiway dedicated to helicopters was commissioned at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport at Ogle yesterday. The new addition, which is being dubbed – the Foxtrot, is expected to connect the existing taxiway Bravo and taxiway Charlie to the main 4,200 foot runway.
Spokesman for the Airport, Kit Nacimento, said that the $70M project was completed in five months and will not only improve helicopter operations but enhance the safety of fixed-wing aircraft. He explained that adding the new runway was imperative since the airport did not previously catered for helicopters. ““The new airport will vastly improve the efficiency and economy of the aircraft operations when taxiing to and from the runway and greatly reduce runway occupancy time,” said Nacimento.
The new taxiway, which has the capacity to accommodate aircraft as big as the LIAT’s ATR 72, will identify with Pavement Classification Number 16-R/B/X/T.
Also present at the ceremony to commission the taxiway were Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Jaipaul Sharma, and Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Colonel Edbert Field, both of whom had words of commendation for the airport’s management.
Field in recognizing the airport as one that is usually at its busiest during the morning hours, said that the new taxiway will help to reduce congestion. He revealed too that come next month an official from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will travel to Guyana to assess the operations of the airport, including its air traffic accommodation.
Meanwhile, Minister Sharman spoke of government’s commitment to address issues at the airport including the restoration of an Airport Review Committee which has been defunction for the past 17 years.
Based on the airport’s lease agreement, such as committee must be in place.
