Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Norman Manley International Airport (MKJP) sits on the Palisadoes tombolo southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, with Kingston Harbour to landward and the open Caribbean to seaward. It is Jamaica's second-busiest airport and the principal gateway for the capital, operating as a Caribbean Airlines hub with a single long instrument runway well suited to both airline and general aviation traffic.
Norman Manley International Airport serves Kingston, Jamaica, and is named after Jamaican statesman Norman Manley (1893-1969). It began life as the civil Palisadoes Airport in the late 1930s and today is operated under concession by PAC Kingston Airport Limited, a subsidiary of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico. For a simulator pilot it offers an interesting mix of a single long asphalt runway on a narrow coastal spit, an ILS approach, and a busy airline and cargo operation set against the backdrop of Kingston Harbour and the Caribbean Sea.
The airport lies on the Palisadoes peninsula, a narrow tombolo enclosing Kingston Harbour, about 19 km (12 mi) south of the centre of New Kingston. It fronts the city of Kingston on one side and the open Caribbean Sea on the other, and as a large international airport it sits within controlled airspace served by its own approach and tower frequencies.
The airport has a single physical runway, 12/30, oriented southeast-northwest, approximately 8,860 ft long with a hard (asphalt) surface and runway lighting. Runway 12 is equipped with an ILS. Field elevation is 10 ft.
Kingston traffic can expect the following frequencies: MANLEY APP on 120.6 MHz, ATIS on 127.7 MHz, Ground on 121.7 MHz, and MANLEY TWR on 118.65 MHz. Runway 12 offers an ILS approach for instrument arrivals.
The airport's position on the Palisadoes tombolo makes it readily identifiable from the air, bounded by Kingston Harbour to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south, with the city of Kingston and New Kingston visible to the northwest across the harbour.
The Palisadoes site was chosen for Kingston's airport for its proximity to the city, its suitability for both land planes and seaplanes, and its accessibility by road and water; the airfield was built by local authorities between 1938 and 1939 as a civil airport. With the outbreak of the Second World War it was taken over by the Royal Navy, which from August 1940 developed it as a Naval Air Station under HMS Malabar in Bermuda; it became operational in July 1941 as RNAS Palisadoes and was re-commissioned as the independent command HMS Buzzard on 12 July 1941. A succession of Fleet Air Arm squadrons flying Fairey Swordfish, Hawker Sea Hurricanes and Fairey Fulmars used the station through 1941 and 1942, including the initial formation of several new Swordfish squadrons destined for escort carriers such as HMS Archer and HMS Avenger. After the war the airfield returned to civil use; the Civil Aviation Department was established in 1947 and Palisadoes Airport was formally established in 1948, later being renamed Norman Manley International Airport in honour of the Jamaican statesman.
Norman Manley International Airport is the second-busiest airport in Jamaica after Sangster International, handling more than 130 international flights a week and serving as a hub for Caribbean Airlines. It is the country's primary airport for business travel and air cargo, and is operated under a long-term concession by PAC Kingston Airport Limited, a subsidiary of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico.