Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Douglas-Charles Airport sits on Dominica's northeast coast near Marigot, serving as the island's principal gateway alongside the smaller Canefield Airport at Roseau. Its single hard runway, extended in recent years to over 5,700 feet, now supports jet services from the US mainland as well as regional turboprop and charter traffic, making it a useful and scenic stop for VFR pilots exploring the Lesser Antilles.
Douglas-Charles Airport is Dominica's main airport, located on the northeast coast close to the town of Marigot and roughly an hour's drive from Portsmouth, the island's second city. It is government-owned and operated by the Dominica Air and Sea Ports Authority, and together with Canefield Airport near Roseau it forms the country's only air links. For a simulator pilot the field offers a compact Caribbean airport experience, with a single runway set against Dominica's mountainous, forested terrain and a mix of airline, charter and general aviation movements.
The airport lies on Dominica's northeast coast, about 3.2 kilometres northwest of Marigot in Saint Andrew Parish. It serves both Marigot and, at greater distance, the capital Roseau, and is one of only two airports on the island, the other being Canefield Airport some five kilometres northeast of Roseau.
Douglas-Charles has a single physical runway orientated 09/27, surfaced in hard-standing and lit. Runway 27 is the longer direction at 5,707 feet, while runway 09 measures 4,551 feet. There is no ILS at the field.
The tower callsign operates on 118.9 MHz. The airport has no ILS; approaches are flown visually or, on runway 27, using an RNAV procedure.
Runway 09 has a displaced threshold caused by rising terrain to the west, reducing the available landing distance on that direction to around 4,603 feet; it is authorised for visual approaches only and night landings on runway 09 are prohibited. Departures from runway 27 are prohibited. Runway 27 is equipped with high-intensity runway lighting, a simple approach lighting system, and a PAPI set at a 3.00 degree approach angle, and can be flown via an RNAV approach.
The airport sits close to the town of Marigot on Dominica's northeast coastline, with the island's steep, forested interior rising immediately to the west, a useful feature for orientation given the terrain-influenced approach to runway 09.
The Melville Hall site was selected in 1944 as the only area of the island with sufficiently extensive flat land for an airport, though construction did not begin until after a cross-country road link from Belles to Marigot was completed in 1958. The airport opened on 22 November 1961, initially served by Douglas DC-3 Dakotas operated by BWIA. Through the late twentieth century it hosted a range of turboprop and, later, jet services from carriers including LIAT, Air Martinique, Air Guadeloupe, Carib Express and Liberty Airlines. A major expansion programme begun in 2006 extended the runway and apron and introduced night landing and navigational aids, with the first night landing performed by Winair on 9 August 2010 and regular night operations beginning that September. The airport was renamed from Melville Hall Airport to Douglas-Charles Airport on 27 October 2014, honouring former Prime Ministers Rosie Douglas and Pierre Charles. A further runway extension project has since increased the length of runway 27 to its current 5,707 feet.
American Eagle, operating Embraer 175 jets on services from Miami, is now the largest carrier at the airport, having begun the first non-stop commercial service between the US mainland and Dominica in December 2021. United Airlines added a once-weekly Boeing 737-700 service from Newark in February 2025, the first Boeing jet type to operate commercially into the field. Charter operators including Air Century, Conviasa, Fly All Ways, InterCaribbean Airways and Sunrise Airways also serve the airport, connecting Dominica with destinations across the Caribbean region.