With the three aircraft rescue and fire-fighting trucks safely tucked away at the ET Joshua Airport in Arnos Vale, CEO of the International Airport Development Corporation (IADC) Dr Rudy Matthias says that other pieces of equipment will soon arrive here.

On Monday, during the official handover {{more}}of the machines at the Campden Park Port, Matthias said that some items essential to the operation of the Argyle international airport have already been purchased, while others are in the process of being bought and delivered.

“In the coming months we will be buying another set of equipment for the terminal building, and we are talking here perhaps the biggest of these will be two jet bridges that we are buying to install on the terminal building to facilitate the efficient enplaning and deplaning of passengers that arrive on the larger jets.

“We will, of course, be buying things like conveyer belts, counters, scanners, and things of that sort that you would normally expect to find in a terminal building.

“So that work is ongoing right now, and I am sure you would be back here again some time in the near future to witness the official handing over of some of the larger pieces of equipment for the Argyle international airport,” Matthias said.

The CEO indicated that a substantial amount of work has been completed at the site, and although all works would not be completed by the end of the year, as initially planned, their hopes are to have the airport operational by May 2015.

He said that in the upcoming months, pavement works will continue to progress, despite rains that hindered operations in the past three months.

He stated that by December this year, the commercial apron pavement and the first turning head at the northern end of the runway will be finished, this will be followed by the rest of the general aviation apron and the cargo apron, as well as the southern tuning end.

“Later this month we are hoping to start the pavement of the rest of the runway, and we are going to do the rest of the runway in asphalt. We have all the equipment at Argyle that we need for that, but we wanted to have the concrete pavement works going smoothly first before we start the asphalt work on the runway….

“The earthworks are substantially complete and you can see that for yourself. The main job that we have out there to do in terms of earth and site works is the work of the river. Conveying the Yambou river under the runway….” Matthias added.

Matthias pointed out that buildings such as the control tower, fire station and cargo terminal, as well as a number of privately constructed hangars, would be completed in the near future.(JJ)