Piarco International Airport

History

The Piarco Airport opened on 8 January 1931, to serve Venezuela's Compagnie Generale Aeropostale. Before this, the Queen's Park Savannah, the Mucurapo Field, and the Cocorite Docks (for flying boats) were used as airstrips to serve the island.

In World War II the original airfield was used by the Royal Navy for the Fleet Air Arm No. 1 Observer Training School with the base known as RNAS Piarco (HMS Goshawk). The following squadrons were based there until disbanding in 1945:

• 749 Naval Air Squadron - Observer Training Squadron, (1 January 1941 – 1 October 1945)
• 750 Naval Air Squadron - Observer Training Squadron, (5 November 1940 – 10 October 1945)
• 752 Naval Air Squadron - Observer Training Squadron, (5 November 1940 – 9 November 1945)
• 793 Naval Air Squadron - Air Towed Target Unit, (18 November 1940 – 10 October 1945)
• 817 Naval Air Squadron - Torpedo, Spotter, Reconnaissance Squadron, 'Z' flight, (21 September 1943 – 27 September 1943)

In 1942 it was also used by both the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force and United States Navy air squadrons. The airport was used both as a transport airfield and also for anti submarine patrol flights over the south Caribbean.

In World War II the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force stationed the following units at the airport performing anti submarine patrols:

• 1st Bombardment Squadron (9th Bombardment Group) 24 April29 October 1941 (B-18 Bolo)
• 10th Bombardment Squadron (25th Bombardment Group) 27 August12 October 1943 (B-18 Bolo)
• 35th Bombardment Squadron (25th Bombardment Group) 27 August12 October 1943 (B-18 Bolo)

It was returned to civil control after the war ended.

Modern day

In December 2019, the European Union awarded the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago a grant of 1.5 million euros to finance the installation of a large-scale solar panel system at the Piarco International Airport, where ground-mounted solar panels will be installed with an annual generation capacity of 1,443,830 kWh and potentially avoid 1,010 metric tons of emissions annually.

In 2021, 2022, and 2023 Piarco International Airport was rated the best airport in the Caribbean by Skytrax, winning the honor over three consecutive years.

In 2021, it was also named third best in the Caribbean and Latin American regions.

Facilities

Operational facilities

At Piarco International Airport there are two high-speed taxiways and three connector taxiways (ICAO Code F for new large aircraft). The airport has 82 ticket counter positions that operate under SITA's fibre-optic C.U.T.E. system which exceeds the recommended standards of ICAO and IATA.

The terminal is a fully air-conditioned, smoke-free building, equipped to handle peak-hour passenger traffic of 1,500 processing passengers through a fully computerised immigration system. The Customs Hall has four baggage/cargo carousels.

An administrative/operations building for the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard is being constructed at the Piarco Air Base. Also, a military airfield will be constructed near the air base.

The control tower at the old terminal building is currently used for air traffic control. The tower at the new terminal building is used for ramp control and runway movement control. A new nine-story control tower was opened in 2011.

The airport is also large enough to accommodate most international widebody airliners including the Boeing 747, Airbus A330, Boeing 777, Boeing 767 and the Airbus A340.

The airport layout consists of one main terminal building which includes three concourses. These concourses are not strictly identified as their name depicts but are divided into the following areas; Gates 1–7 serving all other airlines, Gates 8-14 serving Caribbean Airlines, and the Tobago concourse serving flights to Tobago.

The Club Caribbean lounge is in the southern atrium, adjacent to Gates 8-14. The VIP Flyers lounge is adjacent to Gate 1, just outside the atrium.

The Air Guard of Trinidad and Tobago is based at Piarco International Airport. During the existence of BWIA West Indies, its head office was on the airport property.

The disused south terminal has been renovated into a VIP terminal for the Summit of The Americas. The North terminal has also received additional remote parking stands. In November 2009, upgrades on the south terminal were completed and the area now serves as a private/executive jet facility for high-end travellers.

In 2022, the sod was turned for a $12M solar park at the airport.

Terminals

Piarco International Airport has two terminals. The south terminal was once the passenger terminal for the airport but has been renovated to serve as an executive terminal. It serves cargo flights, general aviation and helicopter flights. It has fourteen parking positions as well as light aircraft parking. In addition it has the Airports Administration Centre, the head office of the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. The North terminal is the main passenger terminal. It handles all the commercial passenger airline traffic. The north terminal has twenty-nine parking positions.

In addition to passenger airlines, the airport also handles cargo traffic, general aviation, military and helicopter flights to the many oil rigs present offshore.

North Terminal

The North Terminal is the main passenger terminal built in 2001, handling all commercial passenger airline traffic. It has a total of fourteen jetway gates spread among two concourses, with a total of twenty-nine parking positions spread among the three concourses. The concourses are not strictly named, but are split among Caribbean Airlines and all other airlines.

The western concourse includes a VIP Lounge, four remote stands, and serves all international airlines through gates 1-7. This concourse is connected to the rest of the airport via the joint southern atrium. Gates 8-14 form the eastern concourse serving all international Caribbean Airlines flights, as well as the location of the Club Caribbean lounge and eight remote stands.

The two concourses together form the international departures section of the airport, with a duty free mall area and panoramic views of the airfield and the Northern Range. The rest of the North Terminal consists of the check-in hall, public atrium, arrivals hall, local food court and the Tobago concourse, just outside the check-in hall. The Tobago concourse strictly serves domestic flights to Tobago and does not require the same infrastructure as an international departure hall, which is why there are just three parking positions.

The check-in hall contains 82 ticket counter positions, where Caribbean Airlines occupies the eastern extreme desks and the western extreme desks (designated for Tobago), and all other airlines occupy the remaining counters. The arrivals hall has 4 baggage claim belts, rental car facilities and restaurants. The public atrium itself is a social space consisting of fast food, shopping and seating underneath the largest glass dome in the Caribbean. It connects the international departures hall, Tobago concourse, arrivals hall and check-in hall.

South Terminal

The south terminal now serves general aviation, cargo and helicopter flights. It has a total of fourteen parking positions as well as offices for the Airport Administration Centre and the Airport Authority.

Ground transportation

The airport is served by the east-west Churchill-Roosevelt Highway which runs to the north of the airport, and connects to the airport circular via BWIA Boulevard. The airport is also accessible from the south via the Caroni South Bank Road, which connects to the north-south Uriah Butler Highway at Caroni.

The Public Transport Service Corporation runs an hourly service during the week providing a bus connection between the airport and City Gate, Port of Spain. From City Gate, passengers can transit onto a bus to their final destination. Privately run taxi services are also available at the airport with fixed fares.

Rental car services are also available at the airport's curbside arrivals hall, from both local and foreign rental companies. The airport contains a large ground-level car park with fixed daily, weekly and monthly fares, as well as secondary parking north of the existing car park on an unfinished roadway, to which shuttle services are provided.

Expansion

The airport underwent expansion and renovation works in preparation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in November 2009. These improvements included:

• Repaving and repainting of the taxiways.

• Re-painting of the runway.

• Installation of new Taxiway and runway lighting. More recently, numerous upgrades have been conducted at the airport, and more are planned. These include:

• Redone Club Caribbean lounge in the eastern concourse.

• Redone passport check area.

• Upgrades to atrium seating facilities

• Planned Four Points by Sheraton hotel

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Trinidad:

| Air Canada |Toronto–Pearson | American Airlines |Miami | British Airways |London-Gatwick | Caribbean Airlines | Antigua, Barbados, Caracas (suspended), Curaçao, Dominica–Douglas-Charles, Fort Lauderdale, Georgetown, Georgetown-Ogle, Grenada, Kingston-Norman Manley, Fort-de-France, Miami, Nassau, New York-JFK, Orlando, Paramaribo, Pointe-à-Pitre, San Juan, St. Kitts, St. Lucia-Castries, St. Maarten, St. Vincent-Kingstown, Tobago, Tortola, Toronto-Pearson | Copa Airlines | Panama City-Tocumen | InterCaribbean Airways | Barbados (begins 8 March 2026) | JetBlue | New York-JFK | KLM | Amsterdam | LIAT20 |Antigua | Rutaca Airlines | Porlamar | United Airlines | Houston–Intercontinental Seasonal: Newark | Winair | St. Maarten

Notes

Cargo

| Amerijet International | Miami

Accidents and incidents

• 22 August 1942 – a Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra operated by KLM West-Indisch Bedrijf crashed shortly after takeoff, about 2 mi miles from the airport, killing all 13 people on board.
• 5 January 1963 – A Cessna Skywagon carrying two Swedish persons, Torgny Sommelius (Pilot) and actor Erik Strandmark, crash landed and caught fire at Piarco, killing them.
• 28 November 1963 – a Convair CV-340 operated by Avensa was hijacked by six armed people shortly after taking off from Ciudad Bolívar, with the destination of Caracas. They forced the pilot to circle Ciudad Bolívar and ordered them to drop pamphlets urging the Venezuelan public to avoid voting in the upcoming elections. After that they demanded to be flown to Piarco, where they surrendered.
• 17 January 1990 – A male American tourist stripped himself, jumped a fence that led into the airport tarmac, then stole a car and crashed it into a British Airways Boeing 747. After being arrested, he managed to escape and he threw himself into the engine of the plane, resulting in his death.

Awards

• 2006 – The "Caribbean's Leading Airport", by the World Travel Awards

References

References

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