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V. C. Bird International Airport

V. C. Bird International Airport
VC Bird International Airport (5916099180).jpg
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority
Location St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 62 ft / 19 m
Coordinates 17°08′12″N 061°47′35″W / 17.13667°N 61.79306°W / 17.13667; -61.79306Coordinates: 17°08′12″N 061°47′35″W / 17.13667°N 61.79306°W / 17.13667; -61.79306
Website vcbia.com
Map
ANU is located in Antigua and Barbuda
ANU
ANU
Location in Antigua
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 3,068 10,066 Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Passengers 919,748
Passenger change 08–09 Decrease8.6%
Aircraft movements 40,489
Movements change 08–09 Decrease3.0%
Source: DAFIF, 2009 World Airport Traffic Report.
Passengers 919,748
Passenger change 08–09 Decrease8.6%
Aircraft movements 40,489
Movements change 08–09 Decrease3.0%

V. C. Bird International Airport (IATA: ANUICAO: TAPA) is an international airport located on the island of Antigua, 8 km (5.0 mi) northeast of St. John's, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda.

The airport originally was operated by the United States Army Air Forces.

The airport was built as a United States Army Air Forces base around 1941, and named Coolidge Airfield after Capt. Hamilton Coolidge (1895–1918), a United States Army Air Service pilot killed in World War I.

Flying units assigned to the airfield were:

Renamed Coolidge Air Force Base in 1948, it was closed as a result of budgetary cutbacks in 1949, with right of re-entry retained by the United States. Agreements were subsequently reached with the United Kingdom and, later, the Antigua government upon independence, for the establishment and maintenance of missile tracking facilities. Antigua Air Station was established on a portion of the former Coolidge AFB. As of 2011, NASA continues to utilize the Antigua facility for launch tracking services on an as-needed basis; and did so for the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory on 26 November 2011.

Upon the closure of the base in 1949 it became a civil airport. It was known as Coolidge International Airport until 1985, when it was named in honor of Sir Vere Cornwall Bird (1910–1999), the first prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda.


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