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Airport authorities have put measures in place to assist planes with take-off and landing following the reopening of Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) on Friday.
Last week the airport was closed as a result of the La Soufriere Volcano eruption which levelled ash all over Barbados.
On Sunday, deputy chief executive officer of GAIA, Terry Layne, confirmed a British Airways flight opted to divert to Antigua, but noted planes continued to land and depart from Barbados.
He said a system was put in place to ensure pilots had maximum visibility when taking off and landing, by limiting the number of flights which could take off and land within a short time of each other. He added the system was practised globally as required.
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April 17, 2021
After more than 60 years, the Chamber of Commerce’s duty-free facility at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA), no longer considered a viable business, has “permanently” closed shop at the end of last month, the business association said Friday.
From the start of April, the Customs and Excise Department had assumed full responsibilities for the airport’s duty-free services, the chamber said in a statement.
A duty-free facility opened at the then Seawell Airport in 1959 with the passage of the 1958 Drawback of Duties on Sales of Goods to Tourists Regulations.
The facility provided services to local duty-free retailers on behalf of the Customs and Excise Department, specifically the handling of duty-free packages purchased by travellers, as well as the processing of volumes of third schedules (triplicate invoices) under the drawback regulations scheme.
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With operations resuming at the Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday evening, it was business as usual today.
Operations at the airport were halted for a week following the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano in St Vincent in the Grenadines, as Barbados battled the plumes which covered all surfaces with volcanic ash.
Arriving passengers went through their routine screening in the arrivals hall, before either boarding the bus to the Harrison’s Point facility in St Lucy, those bound for the Paragon Base in Christ Church or a dedicated taxi to a hotel of their choice at their expense.
Special Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government
Special Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government
Plumes of ash billow out from the La Soufrière volcano on the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines on April 13th, 2021. The volcano had been dormant since 1979, it started spewing smoke and actively rumbling in December 2020. La Soufrière erupted on Friday 9th April 2021, blanketing Saint Vincent in a layer of ash and forcing some 16,000 residents to evacuate their homes to safer parts of the island. (Photo via UN)
Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) met in Special Emergency session (14th Special Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government) on Thursday 15 April to discuss the situation in St Vincent and the Grenadines caused by the on-going volcanic eruptions of La Soufriere.