Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Mustique Airport is a small private airstrip on Mustique Island in the Grenadines, St Vincent and the Grenadines, owned and operated by the Mustique Company for the exclusive use of the island's residents, guests and their charter operators. Its short, part-displaced runway, steep approach gradients and lack of navigation aids make it a demanding but rewarding VFR destination for turboprop and light aircraft pilots familiar with island-hopping in the Caribbean.
Mustique Airport serves Mustique, a small private island in the Grenadines chain of St Vincent and the Grenadines. It is owned and operated by the Mustique Company and is used mainly by turboprop aircraft bringing visitors and residents to the island, with the runway able to accept aircraft of up to 18 seats. For a simulator pilot it offers a classic short-field Caribbean approach: a single strip hemmed in by rising terrain, a displaced threshold and no instrument aids, all set against the backdrop of a small, exclusive island resort.
The airfield lies on Mustique Island in the Grenadines, part of St Vincent and the Grenadines, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It sits among a small group of island airfields including J. F. Mitchell Airport on Bequia, Canouan Airport, Union Island Airport and Argyle International Airport on the main island of St Vincent; private jets unable to use Mustique's short runway typically route via Canouan and continue to the island by charter transfer.
Mustique has a single physical runway, 09/27, of hard (asphalt) surface and lit. The threshold for runway 27 gives a length of 3,256 ft, while the reciprocal threshold for runway 09 gives 3,092 ft, a difference consistent with the displaced threshold used to shorten the usable landing distance on one direction. Field elevation is 7 ft above mean sea level. The strip has a short takeoff and landing (STOL) character, with steep gradients at each end and a hill close to one end of the runway, factors that call for careful energy management on approach.
The tower frequency is 123 MHz. The airfield has no instrument landing system, radar or other radio navigation aids, so all approaches and landings, including those on runway 09, are conducted strictly by visual reference to the ground in visual meteorological conditions.
Because there are no navigation aids and no runway lighting suitable for night use in practice, operations are confined to daylight hours in good visual conditions; the airfield does not operate during the twilight period and closes before sunset, with no exceptions. Pilots unfamiliar with Mustique are required to undergo a flight check with an approved training captain from Mustique Airways or SVG Air before being permitted to operate into the field, reflecting the demanding combination of a displaced threshold, steep runway gradients and nearby high ground.
Mustique Airport opened in 1969 and is the oldest continuously operated airport in St Vincent and the Grenadines, a status it gained following the closure of E. T. Joshua Airport, and it remains the only privately owned airport in the country. It has long been closely associated with the aviation operations built up to serve the island, including Mustique Airways, SVG Air and the Mustique Company's own shuttle airline, Air Adelphi, which has used de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft to move passengers to and from the strip. A runway realignment at the northern end of the island was proposed to reduce the effect of elevated terrain on the approach path, involving substantial earthworks to regrade the strip between the central quarry high ground and the lower-lying ground near Rutland Bay, along with new asphalt paving for the runway and apron.
The airfield remains privately owned and operated by the Mustique Company and continues to support propeller aircraft of up to 18 seats; jet aircraft are not permitted to land at Mustique, and private jet passengers instead fly into Canouan before completing the journey to the island by charter. Flying training captains from Mustique Airways or SVG Air provide the mandatory flight check for pilots new to the field, and operations are restricted to daylight hours, with the airfield closing before sunset.