The Airports

Kevan James

There can be an inevitability about one thing leading to another and in the case of the Kingsborough Islands' airports, it is most certainly the case.

Having been asked to draw a big, shiny, mega-airport for the city, to link the islands with the world, next on the list came an older, more centrally located airport that would have been intended to close and be replaced by the big new one. Not a bit of it!

As a fairly substantial group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic in days long gone ships and the sea would have been the only option but aviation plays and has always played a big role since aircraft were invented. 'Local demand' meant that the older airports remained open and in use. This of course, was the case in the era that map is dated, 1988, and since then, much has changed around the world. Even so, air transport remains a vital and thriving part of daily life within and beyond the islands.

Terence J. Barbour Intercontinental

The primary hub of commercial traffic, the airport opened in 1984. Since then it has grown to become one of the world's great hubs and offers connections to everywhere by many of the world's leading airlines.

The airport on the day it opened, the first part of a master plan for growth -

Development continued quickly and by 1990, additional terminals and runways had been completed -

Thirty years on and a massive terminal redesign and rebuild had taken place and the airport had been brought into the modern era -

When I completed the original drawings, I was spending a lot of time in the Dallas/Ft Worth area, Texas, USA and one of the reasons I was so keen on being there was the airport, DFW as it is often known. Flying in and out as I did, I became very familiar with it so based the layout closely on the Texan hub.

There are some differences, most noticeably the terminals but my excuse for the similarity otherwise is that it was designed by the same firm...

Falmouth Airport

Falmouth lies to the immediate east of Kingsborough, and is the location of the city's original airport, opened in the 1920s as a grass field. The airport grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming the primary gateway. The original terminal was extended to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft with capacity increased by a second terminal, built at the southern end of the airport, on the site of a former USAF transport base (Britain's Royal Air Force also maintained a base at the northern end of the airport until the RAF moved out in 1995).

With the opening of Barbour Intercontinental (on the western side of Kingsborough) as the new airport was further developed it was planned to eventually close Falmouth but local demand saw the airport remain open.

South Bay

Located to northeast of Bay City the airport is the third busiest on the Islands, and has been served by some airlines not seen at either of Kingsborough's airports.

Following the 1960s boom in air travel, like most airports expansion plans were put in place and land set aside for that purpose. Other than expanding the existing terminal however, thus far (in 1988) facilities proved adequate to handle the traffic then present.

Bootprint Airfield

Why is it called Bootprint Airfield?

In 1990 Dad had just moved and I was busy drawing airports for him, as requested. At the time the most suitable room to work in was the living room (Dad spend most of his time in the kitchen/diner) and with no carpet in there, a carpet fitter was due.

I was on the floor drawing away with various sheets spread around me, including the just completed airfield when the fitter arrived. He came clumping in and I said, "Mind your feet!"

He looked at the floor and replied questioningly, "Maps?" and continued to clump.

To this day I have not been able to entirely remove the remains of his clumping, so I named it 'Bootprint Airfield."

In 1988 it was used primarily as a military transport field, serving the big NATO garrison next door, Edenstead Military base. The airfield gained fame locally during World War II and became known as 'The Mighty Bootprint."

Jamesbury

At one time Jamesbury might have become the primary gateway to the islands but given the fact that the capital was KIngsborough, airlines preferred Falmouth. Even so, Jamesbury maintained services to destinations across the islands as well as direct flights to London and New York.

The airport suffered however, from its close proximity to the city, meaning when flights arrived from the east, and over the heavily built up centre, a curved final approach was needed.

The airport's use fell dramatically after Barbour Intercontinental opened just six miles to the northeast

Denia

Denia Airfield lies to the south of Kingsborough and is the primary business airfield for the area. In the 1960s, Denia Aviation Services built under licence, many of the Boeing 727 airliners used on inter-island services.

Lyneton Air base

Lyneton is a major NATO airbase and (along with Bootprint Airfield) serves the military base of Edenstead. The airfield regularly sees the deployment of both transport and combat aircraft from all NATO countries.