Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Maurice Bishop International Airport sits on the exposed southwestern tip of Grenada at Point Salines, serving the capital St George's some five miles to the north. Named after the Prime Minister whose government began the airfield's construction, it has a long single runway well suited to the trade winds and offers a striking approach over the Caribbean Sea. For the sim pilot, it combines an interesting Cold War-era history with a genuinely challenging island approach environment.
Maurice Bishop International Airport, formerly Point Salines Airport, is Grenada's principal international gateway, located in the parish of St George on the island's southwestern point. It is operated by the Grenada Airports Authority and handles scheduled international airline traffic alongside general aviation. For a simulator pilot the field is notable both for its dramatic coastal runway and for its history as the objective of a major airborne assault, making it an engaging destination for an island approach.
The airport lies on Point Salines, the most southwestern point of Grenada, with the town of St George's about 5 miles (8 km) to the north. It is a large, internationally served airport with its own tower and approach service, and houses a Grenada Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority. The surrounding terrain is coastal and low-lying, with the runway projecting toward the sea at the island's tip.
The airport has a single physical runway, 10/28, orientated roughly east-west. Runway 10 measures 8,966 ft and Runway 28 measures 8,965 ft; both are hard-surfaced and lit, giving ample length for wide-body international jets as well as light aircraft. There is no ILS installed.
Radio services are provided on Approach at 119.4 MHz, Ground at 121.9 MHz, and Tower at 118.9 MHz.
The airport occupies the southwestern tip of Grenada at Point Salines, a prominent coastal landmark that makes the field straightforward to identify from the air; the town of St George's lies about 5 miles to the north along the coast.
The airport was built to replace the older Pearls Airport on the island's north side, which could not accommodate the long-range jets needed to bring tourists directly from Europe and North America. Construction began in 1979 under a project championed by Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, using a Canadian-designed layout with European and American contractors as well as Cuban labour. The presence of Cuban workers and the scale of the runway led U.S. President Ronald Reagan to cite the airport as evidence of Soviet-Cuban military intent, a claim central to the political tensions preceding the 1983 U.S.-led invasion of Grenada. Following Bishop's killing in a coup, the still-unfinished airport was chosen as the objective for a low-altitude parachute assault by more than 500 U.S. Army Rangers of the 75th and 2nd Battalions on the morning of 25 October 1983; despite resistance from Grenadian and Cuban personnel, the Rangers secured the field quickly, allowing USAF C-141 transports to begin landing follow-on airborne forces that afternoon. After the invasion the airport was completed with American financial assistance and received its first commercial passenger flight on 28 October 1984. It was renamed Maurice Bishop International Airport in 2009 in honour of the late Prime Minister.
Today the airport functions as Grenada's main international airport, served by a range of scheduled carriers connecting the island to North America, the United Kingdom and the wider Caribbean, alongside general aviation traffic.