St. Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority | 7
initiatives which have effectively empowered
SCASPA to become a major influence in St.
Kitts as well as the Caribbean Region.
A NEW DIRECTION
Among the first steps in a new direction for
St. Kitts was a major renovation of its air-
port facilities. Through an investment of
some $17 million, the tarmac was expanded
to accommodate as many as six-wide-bodied
aircraft at any one time. New taxi-ways were
constructed and the runway was completely
resurfaced. Today, the airport is not only able
to service commercial jumbo jets and non-
stop jet flights to Canada and the United
States, but also handles many regional com-
muter flights from within the Caribbean.
Aviation history was made here when a char-
tered Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A340-300
made a flight to St Kitts in 2011, completing
what was a nearly 10,000-mile long journey
from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Annually, how-
ever, this airport now facilitates passage of
almost 400,000 travelers.
At around the same time improvements
were being made at the airport, sea port op-
erations were also being enhanced. Trans-
shipment services were launched in 2005
through a partnership with Bernuth Lines of
Miami who, along with Tropical Shipping,
Searboard Marine and Geest, is among the
leader of the leading liner services in this
area. In establishing St. Kitts as a transship-
ment center, vessels can unload southbound
cargo in a centralized location for onward
shipment to other regional destinations like
Dominica, Trinidad or Guyana. For opera-
tions such as Bernuth, this arrangement en-
abled its ability to make both shorter and
more direct trips from Miami. At the same
time, it created benefits for St. Kitts by ex-
panding its cargo handling business and
increasing revenues through its collection
of port fees. This was one of the early stra-
