As the capital island of the British Virgin Islands, Tortola is known for its white sand beaches, blue waters, ancient ruins and local fare. Fun Fact #1 The highest point in all the British Virgin Islands is Mount Sage, on Tortola. Tortola / t ɔːr ˈ t oʊ l ə / is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of 55.7 square kilometres (21.5 square miles) with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in Road Town. North Sound, Virgin Gorda 1-284-393-1000 275. On the eastern tip of Virgin Gorda lies a place where life is spent in perfect harmony with the ocean tides, and attention to detail.

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IATA: EIS
ICAO: TUPJ

Summary

Airport type

Public

Operator

BVIAA

Serves

British Virgin Islands

Location

Beef Island

Focus city for

InterCaribbean Airways

Elevation AMSL

16 ft / 5 m

Coordinates

18°26′44″N064°32′35″W / 18.44556°N 64.54306°WCoordinates: 18°26′44″N064°32′35″W / 18.44556°N 64.54306°W

Map

Location in the British Virgin Islands

Runways

Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	m	ft	Surface
07/25	1,415	4,642	Asphalt

Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport (IATA: EIS, ICAO: TUPJ), previously known as Beef Island Airport, is the main airport serving the British Virgin Islands, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. The airport serves as the gateway to just about all of the islands within the BVI. The airport is also a gateway for inter-Caribbean travelers headed to the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands. Many travellers fly into Beef Island, with the intention of taking a ferry to the other smaller British Virgin Islands. The airport is located on Beef Island, a small island off the main island of Tortola, to which it is connected by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.

3Airlines and destinations
- 3.1Passenger

Overview[edit]

The Terrance B. Lettsome airport underwent a major $55 million renovation in 2004. After dredging was completed the runway was expanded to allow larger planes to operate into the airfield. This renovation was the largest capital project ever undertaken in the territory at that time. However, the airport currently does not receive any scheduled airline passenger jet service. The largest aircraft serving Tortola is the 64 passenger seat ATR-72 turboprop aircraft operated by Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT). Recently, Seaborne Airlines began operating Saab 340 turboprop aircraft into the airport.

Some of the highlights of the renovation and expansion project include:

A new 46,000 sq ft (4,300 m²) terminal building
An enlarged flight apron
A new control tower
3,700 ft (1,128 m) runway extension
New airport road with expanded parking (150 parking stalls)

There is a $20 departure tax for anyone over the age of five years.

The airport houses the BVI Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority.^[2]

Expansion[edit]

In 2016 the Government announced an expansion of the airport to increase the runway size by 2,504 feet.^[3]^[4] This followed years of speculation and proposals; discussions about expansion and how to finance it were being undertaken in 2014.^[5]^[6] Although initial reports indicated that the United Kingdom had approved the necessary financial borrowing,^[7] later reports suggested that the UK's consent had been withheld in connection with concerns about the financial viability of the project.^[8] Under agreed financial protocols, external borrowing by the BVI Government needs to be approved by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

On 27 December 2016 the Government announced that the tender to expand the airport had been won by China Communications Construction Company.^[9] The Premier, Orlando Smith, said 'Negotiations will now get underway with the preferred bidder with a view to concluding a contractual agreement within three months, which delivers the right outcome for the people of this territory.'^[9] According to Government, the runway was proposed to be extended from 4,645 feet to approximately 7,100 feet, and would thereby allow mainline jetliner types such as Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A320 aircraft to fly directly to and from the continental United States and Latin America.

However, in June 2017 the Government appeared to confirm that the proposed runway expansion would not be going forward.^[10]

Airlines and destinations[edit]

Passenger[edit]

Airlines	Destinations
Air Sunshine	Dominica–Douglas-Charles, Nevis, San Juan, Saint Kitts, Saint Thomas, Sint Maarten Charter:St. Croix
Cape Air	San Juan Seasonal:Saint Thomas
Fly BVI	Charter:Anegada, Castries, Virgin Gorda, Saint Thomas, San Juan, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica-Melville Hall, Providenciales, Grenada, Nevis, Punta Cana, Saint Kitts, Saint Vincent, Vieux Fort
InterCaribbean Airways	Antigua, Castries, Dominica–Douglas-Charles, Punta Cana (begins 15 January 2020),^[11]San Juan, Santo Domingo–Las Américas, Santiago de los Caballeros, Sint Maarten
Island Birds	Charter:San Juan, Saint Thomas, St. Croix, Sint Maarten, Anguilla, Antigua, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Barbuda, Dominica-Canefield
LIAT	Antigua, Barbados, Saint Kitts, Sint Maarten
Seaborne Airlines	San Juan
Sky High Aviation Services	Santo Domingo–Las Américas
Trans Anguilla Airways	Anguilla, Virgin Gorda
VI Airlink	Anegada, Antigua, Saint Kitts, Saint Thomas, Virgin Gorda Charter:Anguilla, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, Canouan, Curaçao, Dominica-Melville Hall, Fort-de-France, Grand Turk, Grenada, Kingston, La Romana, Montego Bay, Nassau, Nevis, Pointe-à-Pitre, Port-au-Prince, Port of Spain, Providenciales, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Saint Vincent, San Juan, Santo Domingo-Las Américas, Sint Maarten, Dominica-Canefield
Winair	Sint Maarten

Historically, in 1986 the airport had scheduled passenger jet service operated by British Caribbean Airways,^[12]^[13] with direct flights to Miami. British Caribbean operated a British AerospaceBAe 146-100 jetliner. This was only jet service operated into Tortola at that time.

The proposed return of jet service to Miami[edit]

Thirty years after the short-lived British Caribbean Airways offered jet service to Miami utilizing British AerospaceBAe 146-100 aircraft, Tortola based BVI Airways announced the start of new nonstop Miami service using Avro RJ100 jet airliners with this aircraft being a later version of the Bae 146 jet. However the new service never flew, and BVI Airways is now presumed to be defunct^[14] having laid off all of its staff shortly before Hurricane Irma stuck in 2017.^[15]

Air BVI[edit]

Air BVI was an airline based at the airport which operated scheduled passenger service from the early the 1970s to the mid 1990s with Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander and Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft as well as with Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprops during its existence. The regional air carrier served Anegada, Antigua, La Romana, Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, San Jua

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