George F. L. Charles Airport

George F. L. Charles Airport
IATA: SLU ICAO: TLPC
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Saint Lucia Air & Sea Ports Authority
Location	Castries, Saint Lucia
Elevation AMSL	22 ft / 7 m
Coordinates	14°01′13″N 060°59′35″W / 14.02028°N 60.99306°W / 14.02028; -60.99306Coordinates: 14°01′13″N 060°59′35″W / 14.02028°N 60.99306°W / 14.02028; -60.99306
Website	http://www.stlucia-airport.com/
Map
SLU Location in Saint Lucia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27 1,898 6,227 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface m ft H1 16 60 Asphalt
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 195,859 Passenger change 15–16 1.2% Aircraft movements 17,569 Movements change 15–16 2.51%
Source: DAFIF 2012 SLASPA Statistics

Passengers	195,859
Passenger change 15–16	1.2%
Aircraft movements	17,569
Movements change 15–16	2.51%

George F. L. Charles Airport (formerly Vigie Airport) (IATA: SLU, ICAO: TLPC) is the smaller of the two airports in Saint Lucia, the other being Hewanorra International Airport. It is located 2 km (1.2 mi) north of Castries, the capital city. George F. L. Charles Airport is managed by the Saint Lucia Air and Seaports Authority (SLASPA). Its runway runs parallel to a pristine beach, Vigie Beach, which is a popular tourist attraction.

The airport was renamed on 4 August 1997 in honor of Saint Lucia politician Sir George Frederick Lawrence Charles (1916–2004).

On average, George F. L. Charles Airport handles 32,000 flights per year carrying 394,000 passengers. Most of these flights operate with turboprop aircraft such as the ATR 72-500 or the Bombardier Dash 8.

The airport currently has no scheduled jet service. All jet service into St. Lucia, including transatlantic flights, operates via Hewanorra International Airport, on the southeast portion of the island. The airport previously had jet service flown by Caribair (Puerto Rico) which in 1970 was operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 jetliners with nonstop flights to Barbados and Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe with direct service to Antigua, Port of Spain, Trinidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Croix and St. Thomas.