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L.F.Wade International Airport: How A Small Island Handles Big Traffic
Bermuda Airport

At 21 square miles, the entire UK overseas territory of Bermuda is smaller than some of the world’s larger airports. Yet, thanks to tourism and a thriving international business hub, some one million residents and visitors pass through L. F. Wade International Airport each year. Located 560 miles east of Cape Hattaras, Bermuda depends on its airport (BDA/TXKF) for much of its contact with the outside world.

The airport can support aircraft of all sizes up to and including the A380. It is also a NASA Space Shuttle launch-abort site that could be used during low- and mid-inclination launches. Facilities include both a passenger and a cargo terminal, as well as an airport hangar constructed in 1995. Bermuda registered Longtail Aviation provides required support to general aviation from the airport hangar, and the island’s growing corporate jet traffic is serviced by two Fixed Based Operators with terminals located on independent aprons. Because of Bermuda’s distance from any other landmass, General Aviation use of the airport is limited to jets and long-range turboprops. Only jet fuel is available.

The first facility on the site now occupied by L.F. Wade was built between 1941 and 1943 as a joint US Army Air Forces (USAAF)/Royal Air Force (RAF) base named Kindley Field. At the end of World War II, the RAF left Bermuda. The field, by then hosting civil as well as military aircraft, was operated by the United States Air Force as Kindley Air Force Base until 1970, when it was transferred to the United States Navy. The Navy operated it as US Naval Air Station, Bermuda until 1995, when it was transferred to the Bermuda Government’s Ministry of Tourism and Transport.

Conferral of the facility was a mixed blessing. While the people of Bermuda gained infrastructure worth hundreds of millions of dollars, there was much to be done to meet advancing civil aviation requirements, and to keep ahead of the growing number of both commercial and private aircraft take-offs and landings.

Today, L.F. Wade International Airport offers service to fourteen destinations in Europe, Canada and the U.S., including travel hubs such as London, New York, Miami and Toronto. The airport is served by Air Canada, American Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue, USA3000 and US Airways.

To meet the increasing demand for Bermuda as a destination, L.F. Wade has improved airside technology as well as passenger facilities. In 2005, the airport installed a Doppler Weather Radar with a 150-mile range. Recently, as part of continuing safety management initiatives, a Thor Guard integrated lightning prediction and warning system was installed to detect static electricity that is the precursor to actual lightning strikes. The system alarm sounds and flashes when a static charge is within two miles of the airfield, and all airside operations by ground handlers, refuelers, fixed-base operators and the Airport Fire Department cease. The system sounds and flashes an all clear when the static charge has dissipated, and it is safe to resume operations.

BAS-Serco, a company partnership between Bermuda Aviation Services Ltd and UK-based transport services provider Serco, contracts with the airport to provide air traffic control services for the airport. Under an agreement between the FAA and the UK, the New York Air Route Traffic Control Centre (ZNY) provides approach, departure and en-route traffic control in the surrounding Oceanic Sector.

L.F. Wade has made significant improvements to its Instrument Landing System (ILS). In the past, pilots flying into Bermuda had to rely on Visual Flight Rules (VFR), or a single ground-based ILS for runway 30. This was a challenge on days when bad weather impacted visibility, winds necessitated landing on runway 12, or the ILS was non-operational.

In March 2008, working with the FAA and aviation equipment specialist Jeppesen, Bermuda upgraded to seven instrumented approaches. Unlike ground-based systems, GPS, a worldwide satellite system, is not impacted by bad weather. With new GPS capabilities for both runways 12 and 30, pilots now have the capability to land VFR, ILS, ILS/GPS, GPS and VOR/DME.

On a recent fuel stop by Air Force Two (the air traffic control call sign used by any U. S. Air Force plane carrying the Vice President), the pilot flew the GPS/ILS blended approach. According to Jeppesen, designer of the seven approaches, this type of navigation landing is typically available only in the Middle East. The pilot was surprised Bermuda had such a system, and flew the system to touchdown. This was one of his first such landings.

The Air Traffic Control tower is undergoing major interior and exterior renovations and upgrades, including new and improved consoles, supervisor station and lighting. One of the main upgrades will be a new Voice and Data Communication Switch System supplied by Frequentis. The system is currently in use by the FAA. This fully supportable technology will allow for better and more reliable systems control and monitoring of airfield lighting, weather data, and radar. It will improve communications with aircraft, controller-to-supervisor communications, tower voice-recording quality, and provide additional tools to the controllers. The Frequentis system will be fully operational in June/July 2009.

In July 2008 ZNY expanded its routing over Bermuda from one to three routes. This increased the importance of Bermuda radar for traffic control and coverage through Bermuda airspace. Bermuda’s new Airport Surveillance, now operational, is more than a match for the increased challenge. A solid-state, dual-transmitter system with extended range, the system is known by the name of one of its operational states: MODE-S. The other state is IBI mode. System range in the MODE-S state is 200 Miles, in the IBI mode, 240 miles. Both of these fully meet the requirements of FAA ZNY. Dual transmitters provide redundancy; and thus a significant increase in reliability.

In the area of enhanced passenger security, a new, upgraded Baggage Reconciliation System (BRS) allows baggage to be electronically linked back to the passenger. The new system brings the latest technology and guaranteed maintenance to Bermuda.

“All of these improvements ensure that the facility and its equipment meet and where possible exceed international standards,” said Airport General Manager Aaron Adderley, “and they ensure that L.F. Wade International Airport will continue to provide the best possible service to our passengers.”

For more information on Bermuda, visit

www.bermudaairport.com or www.bermudatourism.com  

 

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