Runway Lighting Failure Causes Cancellation of Night-Landing

Renovation and Upgrading Project Proceeding as Planned

Bird Rock, St. Kitts – July 18, 2013: The St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) closed its night flight operations at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport to incoming and outgoing flights on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, July 16 and 17. This decision was taken after experiencing technical difficulties with the existing runway lighting mechanism on Tuesday evening, which resulted in the runway light failure. Hence, as a precautionary measure, the runway was closed.

This unexpected lighting failure came in the wake of an EC $2 Million airport runway lighting project already being undertaken by SCASPA to replace its existing 25 year old runway lighting and cable system with a more robust and durable one. The project, which started in June, is lated to be completed by August 31st 2013, and to date has been proceeding on schedule.

SCASPA wishes to apologize to its customers and to the general travelling public for any inconvenience caused by the closure of the RLB Airport runway for the past two nights, and assures all concerned that we are working tediously to improve the efficiency and standards of all operations at RLB International Airport. The best interest and safety of the travelling public is the basis for such closure decisions, and any further need for closure will be communicated on a timely basis. Meanwhile all daylight flight service continues as scheduled.

The airport lighting project is one of several integral capital projects being undertaken by SCASPA at this time to improve its customer service efficiency and standards.