L.F. Wade International Airport | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Owner | Government of Bermuda | ||||||||||
Operator | Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited | ||||||||||
Serves | Bermuda | ||||||||||
Location | St. David's Island | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 18 ft / 5 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 32°21′51″N 064°40′43″W / 32.36417°N 64.67861°WCoordinates: 32°21′51″N 064°40′43″W / 32.36417°N 64.67861°W | ||||||||||
Website | www.Skyport.bm | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Location of airport in Bermuda | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Source: Bermudan AIP
|
L.F. Wade International Airport (IATA: BDA, ICAO: TXKF), formerly named Bermuda International Airport, is the sole airport serving the British overseas territory of Bermuda in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is located in the parish of St. George's and is 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) northeast of Bermuda's capital city of Hamilton. In 2006, L.F. Wade International Airport handled about 900,000 passengers, up 7% from 2005. It has one passenger terminal, one cargo terminal, eight aircraft stands and can support all aircraft sizes up to and including the Airbus A380. Currently, seven airlines operate seasonal or year-round scheduled services to Bermuda Airport from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The airfield began life as Kindley Field, a joint US Army Air Forces (USAAF)/Royal Air Force (RAF) base, during the Second World War. The RAF forces in Bermuda were withdrawn at the end of the War. The local RAF Commander, however, stayed on, on loan to the Bermuda Government, and converted the RAF facilities into the Civil Air Terminal, operated by the local government. When the pre-War airport, a flying boat facility on Darrell's Island, closed in 1948, Bermuda's air routes were taken over by land planes operating through the airfield, which by then was operated by the United States Air Force, as Kindley Air Force Base. In 1970, the field was transferred to the United States Navy, which operated it as US Naval Air Station, Bermuda until 1995 when the US Navy terminated its 99-year lease and the field was transferred to the Bermuda Government, which now operates the airport as part of the Ministry of Tourism & Transport.