Wayne Farley's Aviation Blog - The Air Traffic Controllers Weblog

Providenciales Air Traffic Controllers handled a staggering 113 business jet movements on Sunday January 2nd. This was revealed by flight support company Jeppesen Dataplan, which provides flight planning services to private and fractional aircraft worldwide. That made the local fixed base operator Provo Air Center, the busiest FBO in the world on that day.

When the dust is settled and the numbers are crunched, that day may also turn out to be the busiest day for the airport, at least in a long while. Aircraft movements on the weekends are significantly more than week days with a daily average of 180 total movements during the winter months.

It has to be said that the controllers really worked their magic with absolute precision. This feat must be commended since the aerodrome and airspace configuration does not allow for a whole lot of maneuvering, added to the fact that there is no surveillance system to monitor movements. Runway occupancy is high since all departing aircraft must backtrack the runway for takeoff because there is no parallel taxiway to get the aircraft to the threshold from the apron. And some landing aircraft need to backtrack also before exiting the runway for the same reason.

The 113 business jet movements were complexly intertwined with the scheduled local and international flights throughout the 14 hours of operation of the airport.

For the Caribbean, St. Maarten and Nassau are the two usual hot spots, but Provo stole the number one position for that day. Provo Air Center’s General Manager, Deborah Aharon, attributes the high traffic volume to fuel shortages around the Caribbean, a possibility that they had anticipated and prepared for.

I join with Miss Aharon to applaud the air traffic controllers for the superb job they did in dealing with the extra loads. Once you guys are out of the tower, have a beer on me.

OK guys, your turn. What was the holiday traffic like at your airport?