Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Cyril E. King Airport (TIST/STT) is the principal gateway to St Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, sited on reclaimed land beside Lindbergh Bay a short distance west of Charlotte Amalie. A single long instrument runway, full air traffic control services and a history stretching back to the earliest days of Caribbean aviation make it an interesting destination for the VFR or IFR pilot exploring the eastern Caribbean.
Cyril E. King Airport, generally known by its IATA code STT, is the main airport serving the island of St Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It sits close to Lindbergh Bay, about two miles west of the historic harbour town of Charlotte Amalie, and is operated by the Virgin Islands Port Authority. For the simulator pilot it offers a single but substantial hard runway with an ILS, full tower and approach control, and dramatic surrounding terrain and water, making arrivals and departures visually engaging as well as procedurally interesting.
The airport lies on the south-western coast of St Thomas, two miles west of Charlotte Amalie, the territorial capital. Approach and departure control for the field is provided remotely, with San Juan Center handling wider en-route traffic and a dedicated St Thomas approach and departure frequency of 118.8 MHz covering the local area. Ground movements are coordinated on 121.9 MHz, and San Juan radio can be reached on 108.6 MHz. The field's tower, ATIS and unicom frequencies place it firmly within a fully controlled aerodrome environment typical of a busy Caribbean international airport.
The airport has a single physical runway, 10/28, with a hard surface and a length of 6,981 feet. Both directions are lit, and runway 10 is equipped with an ILS, giving an instrument approach into the airport from the east.
St Thomas Tower operates on 118.1 MHz, with ground control on 121.9 MHz. Approach and departure services, both under the St Thomas identifier, are combined on 118.8 MHz, and San Juan Center provides wider area control. The airport's ATIS broadcasts on 124 MHz, and unicom is available on 122.95 MHz for general aviation use. An air-to-ground frequency of 128.65 MHz is also listed, alongside a San Juan radio frequency of 108.6 MHz. Runway 10 is served by an ILS, supporting instrument approaches from the east over the water.
No published circuit heights, joining procedures or noise abatement restrictions are given in the available sources; pilots should expect to operate under the direction of St Thomas Tower and approach control given the airport's status as a controlled, internationally served aerodrome.
The airport lies immediately adjacent to Lindbergh Bay, a distinctive coastal feature on the approach from the west, with Charlotte Amalie and its harbour a prominent landmark to the east. No formal published visual reporting points are given in the available sources.
The site began life in 1927 as an airstrip known as Mosquito Bay, named after a nearby grassy swamp that was itself later renamed Lindbergh Bay after Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St Louis there. The first passengers used the field in 1928, and it remained in civilian hands until purchased by the United States government on 1 September 1935, when it was renamed Bourne Field in honour of the first aviator to fly non-stop from the United States to Nicaragua. At that time the field comprised two unpaved runways, each 1,600 feet long, used to train United States Marine Corps aviators. In 1940 the Navy ordered a major expansion, extending and paving the runways to support a VMS-3 observation squadron; once the Second World War began, VMS-3 flew the J2F-A Duck, Vought SU-2 Corsair, OS2N-1 Kingfisher and Douglas SBD Dauntless on anti-submarine patrols around the islands. By 1944 enemy submarine activity had declined, and the base was handed to civilian authorities in 1946. The airport was then leased to the US Department of the Interior for civilian use, though the Navy retained the right to reactivate it militarily. The former hangar became the civilian terminal, named after President Harry S. Truman. On 25 March 1950 the Department of the Interior leased the land to the Virgin Islands, though the lease was cancelled on 1 July 1954 amid disputes over financial reporting, after which the property passed to the US Virgin Islands Corporation. The airport was renamed for former Governor Cyril Emmanuel King on 3 October 1984. Its runway was extended in 1992 from 4,200 feet to its current length of just over 7,000 feet, allowing it to accommodate the wide-body and narrow-body jet services that airlines including American Airlines, Eastern Airlines, Pan American World Airways, Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines and others operated into St Thomas from the 1960s onward.
Cyril E. King Airport is today the busiest airport in the U.S. Virgin Islands, handling scheduled jet services from major US carriers as well as general aviation and air taxi traffic, the latter accounting for the majority of movements. It has a single passenger terminal and is subject to US Customs and Border Protection screening for flights bound for the continental United States and Puerto Rico. A major terminal redevelopment programme has been under way to expand capacity, though this affects landside facilities rather than the flying operation itself.