Airport in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
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]
Facilities
Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base covers an area of 3 acres (12,000 m2) and has two seaplane landing areas:[1]
- Runway E/W: 10,000 ft × 4,000 ft (3,048 m × 1,219 m), surface: water
- Runway N/S: 4,000 ft × 4,000 ft (1,219 m × 1,219 m), surface: water
Airlines and destinations
Historical air service
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.
Renaming the seaplane terminal
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.
