Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base St. Thomas Seaplane Base | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Private | ||||||||||||||
Owner | Virgin Islands Port Authority | ||||||||||||||
Location | Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands | ||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 0 ft / 0 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 18°20′19″N064°56′27″W / 18.33861°N 64.94083°W | ||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2005) | |||||||||||||||
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration [1] |
Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base( IATA : SPB, FAA LID : VI22), also known as St. Thomas Seaplane Base, is located in the harbor by Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. This private-use airport is owned by the Virgin Islands Port Authority. [1]
As per Federal Aviation Administration records, this seaplane base had 76,820 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2004 and 71,555 enplanements in 2005. [2]
Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base covers an area of 3 acres (12,000 m2) and has two seaplane landing areas: [1]
Airlines | Destinations |
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Seaborne Airlines | St. Croix–Harbor |
Historically, Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle [3] [4] [5] [6] operated scheduled passenger service during the 1980s from the Charlotte Amalie seaplane base with Grumman Mallard aircraft. These Grumman amphibious aircraft were powered either by piston engines or by turboprop engines via a powerplant conversion program. During the 1970s, Antilles Air Boats [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] operated several different types of seaplanes in scheduled passenger service from the harbor as well including the Consolidated PBY Catalina (Super Catalina version), Grumman Goose, Grumman Mallard, Short Sandringham S-25 and Vought Sikorsky VS-44.
The terminal was named the Charles F. Blair, Jr. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] terminal in honor of Charles F. Blair, Jr., an aviation pioneer and the founder of the seaplane airline, Antilles Air Boats.
The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is the only place under United States jurisdiction where the rule of the road is to drive on the left. However, virtually all passenger vehicles are left hand drive due to imports of U.S. vehicles.
The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, and its first aircraft to enter commercial airline service. During World War II, the Goose became an effective transport for the US military, as well as serving with many other air forces. During hostilities, the Goose took on an increasing number of combat and training roles.
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