Douglas–Charles Airport

Douglas–Charles Airport (IATA: DOM, ICAO: TDPD), formerly known as Melville Hall Airport, is an airport located on the northeast coast of Dominica, 2 mi (3.2 km) northwest of Marigot. It is about one hour away from the second largest city Portsmouth. It is one of only two airports in the island nation of Dominica, the other being Canefield Airport located three miles (5 km) northeast of Roseau.

Douglas–Charles Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of Dominica
OperatorDominica Air & Sea Ports Authority
ServesMarigot and Roseau.
LocationDominica
Elevation AMSL73 ft / 22 m
Coordinates15°32′49″N 061°18′00″W
Websitedouglascharlesairport.com
Map
DOM
Location in Dominica
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27 1,756 5,761 Asphalt
Source: WAD[1] Google Maps[2] SkyVector[3]

History

The Melville Hall area was chosen as the site for Dominica's main airport in 1944, for it was the only place on the island with extensive flat land.[4] It was only after the completion of the Transinsular Road from Belles to Marigot, in 1958, that work on the airport began.[4][5] The facility opened on 22 November 1961, and was first served by Douglas DC-3 Dakotas operated by BWIA.[5]

Three airlines were operating scheduled passenger service with turboprop aircraft into the airport in late 1979 including Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT) with Hawker Siddeley HS 748 flights nonstop from Antigua, Fort de France, Pointe a Pitre and St. Lucia as well as direct, no change of plane HS 748 flights from Barbados, Grenada, Port of Spain and St. Vincent; Air Martinique with nonstop Fokker F27 service from Fort de France; and Air Guadeloupe with nonstop de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter service from Pointe a Pitre.[6]

According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), two airlines were operating scheduled passenger jet service into the Melville Hall Airport in the spring of 1995: Carib Express with nonstop British Aerospace BAe 146-100 jet flights from Barbados, St. Kitts and St. Lucia; and Liberty Airlines with nonstop Boeing 727-200 jet service to St. Kitts and St. Lucia as well as direct, one stop 727 service to Fort Lauderdale.[7] The OAG also lists scheduled passenger service at this same time flown by LIAT into the airport with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprops nonstop from Antigua, Fort de France, Pointe a Pitre, and St. Maarten as well as direct, no change of plane Dash 8 flights from Anguilla, Port of Spain, St. Lucia, San Juan, PR and Tortola.

In 2006 an airport expansion and upgrade program began which entailed the expansion of the terminal building to include a new departure lounge, customs and immigration section and check in area. The runway and apron were also extended and new night landing and navigational aids were installed. These enhancements had an extended completion date of mid-2010.

The first-ever night landing was conducted on 9 August 2010 by Winair.[8] Regular night landings at the airport began on 20 September 2010; the first flight, from LIAT, flew from V.C. Bird International Airport in Antigua.

The airport was renamed from Melville Hall Airport to Douglas–Charles Airport on 27 October 2014 in honour of Prime Ministers Rosie Douglas and Pierre Charles.[9]

Douglas-Charles Airport

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
Air Antilles Barbados, Castries, Fort-de-France, Pointe-à-Pitre, Sint Maarten
Air Sunshine Anguilla, Castries, Nevis, Saint Croix, Saint Kitts, Saint Thomas, San Juan, Sint Maarten, Tortola
American Eagle Miami[10]
Caribbean Airlines Barbados
Fly Montserrat Charter: Montserrat
InterCaribbean Airways Barbados, Castries, Tortola, Saint Vincent
LIAT Antigua, Barbados, Saint Kitts
Silver Airways San Juan
St Barth Commuter Charter: Saint Barthélemy
Trans Anguilla Airways Charter: Anguilla

New jet service

American Airlines has announced a new, twice-weekly nonstop jet service between its Miami (MIA) hub and Dominica which began on December 8, 2021, and is operated by its American Eagle affiliate with Embraer ERJ-175 regional jets. The service now operates on Wednesdays and Saturdays. A recent update was made to the airline's schedule, and due to demand, the frequency will increase to 3x weekly, with the addition of Mondays beginning January 10, 2022. [11]

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
DHL Aviation San Juan

Incidents and accidents
  • On Tuesday 4 December 2012 an Amerijet Boeing 727 cargo jet overran the runway, no reported damage or injuries.[12]
  • A Learjet 35 business jet ran off the runway suffering extensive damage..
  • An Air Anguilla Cessna 402 impacted terrain west of the airport, killing all 11 on board, on 23 August 1998.[13]

Other facilities

The airport houses the Dominica Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Airport information for TDPD". World Aero Data. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Data current as of October 2006. Source: DAFIF.
  2. "Douglas-Charles Airport". Google Maps. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  3. "Douglas Charles - International Airport". SkyVector. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  4. Honychurch, Lennox (2005). "Development and Welfare". The Dominica Story (3rd ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 0-333-62776-8.
  5. Cracknell, Basil E. (1973). Dominica. David & Charles Ltd. pp. 103–4. ISBN 0-8117-0531-5.
  6. Dec. 1, 1979 Official Airline Guide (OAG), North American Edition, Dominica flight schedules
  7. April 2, 1995 Official Airline Guide (OAG), North American Edition, Dominica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia & Fort Lauderdale flight schedules
  8. Staff (11 August 2010). "First Ever Night Landing Conducted at Melville Hall Airport". Dominica Central Newspaper. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  9. "It is now Douglas-Charles Airport". Dominica News Online. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  10. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article252976498.html
  11. "American Airlines Launching Nonstop Flights to Anguilla and Dominica". 26 July 2021.
  12. "Aircraft stuck at Melville Hall". Dominica News Online. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  13. "NTSB Identification: ATL98RA119". NTSB.
  14. "Dominica Outstation." Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved on 23 December 2012.
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