New international airport in Belize

[Hank49]

For the life of me, I couldn't figure this one out. They're building a new, long airstrip, bigger than Goldsen down near Riversdale on the road to Placencia....Placencia?? 9 of 10...or so... people landing here from the US flights are going to San Pedro or Caulker.

The explanation was given to me recently. Europeans. To get here now, Europeans have to fly into Miami or Houston and to do that, they need American visas. The European airlines can't fly directly to Belize because the planes are too big to land and take off at Goldsen and they can't lengthen it anymore unless they build a bridge over the river at the west end of the runway.

This could be a great thing for Belize. You hardly see Europeans here, unlike say, the Philippines where you hardly see Americans. I hope it works. Tourism is really down here now. And unfortunately, crime is up.

 

[peterbj7]

I thought they had lengthened the runway at Goldson so that a 777 could land & take off? But for some reason haven't opened the lengthened runway.

The issue with flying through the States is not the need for a visa as such, but the fact that the US doesn't operate "transit". Just to land and take off immediately means you have to go through full Immigration and Customs, and then a few minutes later do it again in reverse. Not only that, but Immigration there can be unbelievably stupid. When transiting to another plane flying out of the USA I have nonetheless often been asked what hotel I will be staying in (and they won't accept "none" as an answer - I usually have to make one up). On one occasion I was asked why I was transiting and not choosing to spend time in the USA - that wasn't a joke but a serious question requiring an answer. And at Customs I have been asked very seriously what goods I am bringing in that I intend to leave in the country, and again they wan't accept an answer "I'm not entering the country, so I can't be leaving anything".

THIS, and the nonsensical "security checks" you have to go through countless times in the USA, is why I for one hate flying via the US. If it's my destination I know I have to put up with it, but why on earth can't they copy European airports and have a secure transit lounge with no need to immigrate and then emigrate?

 

[Downing]

Hope it works, too.

Reminds me of a rather strange experience my wife and I had a couple of years ago. We were spending some time in Playa del Carmen diving cenotes before jumping the ferry to Cozumel. We decided to check out Chichen Itza, which at the time was up for and ultimately won a spot in the Seven Modern Wonders Of The World contest. Rather than spend the better part of a day in a car driving back and forth, we hired a small plane as arranged through our hotel.

The PdC airport is tiny. A single landing strip with a couple of small planes parked around the edges, about what I expected. Our little four seater was held together with lots of wire and duct tape plus wire coat hangers to keep the doors closed. My wife was pretty nervous about it, but I took my cue from the pilot, figuring he wasn't going to risk his life just to ferry a couple of gringos around.

Off we went.

We were stunned when we landed. There's no real town or even much of a village nearby so it was kind of like landing in the middle of the woods. Except that the airport was freakin' huge, maybe approaching about a quarter the size of the Portland International Airport, which serves a local population of over a million people. There were multiple runways, a large and modern terminal and even a big passenger jet parked some ways away from the terminal.

But--I kid you not--we were the only two people there plus our pilot. We climbed out, dusted ourselves off and strolled through the gate, baggage claim area, and ticket counters all the way out the front doors without seeing another soul. We caught the one and only cab--I think our resort had called ahead to make arrangements for the ride otherwise I'm sure he wouldn't have been there. We didn't see even so much as a single security guard, much less an airport employee or fellow traveller. It was kind of spooky, actually.

After a great day of clambering around the ruins, we caught a ride back to the still completely empty airport, woke up the pilot, who was taking a siesta spread out on one of the many rows of empty seats, and flew home.

I've got some photos on my laptop at home. I'll try to post them tonight.

 

[peterbj7]

That sounds a great excursion. What did the plane cost to rent?

 

[Downing]

I don't remember specifically but it was a lot. I'm thinking three or four hundred dollars, maybe more.

We didn't have a car so I figured when you factor in the cost of a rental car plus gas and the six plus hours round trip vs the cost of the plane and a one hour roundtrip it was well worth it. We got there fairly early in the morning and the place was near empty until around noon when the cruise ship buses arrived.

In addition to Chichen Itza, just checking out the pancake flat Yucatan penisula and some small Mexican villages from the air was a blast in and of itself. Gave my wife a near permanent case of white knuckles, though.

 

[Hank49]

I thought they had lengthened the runway at Goldson so that a 777 could land & take off? But for some reason haven't opened the lengthened runway.

The issue with flying through the States is not the need for a visa as such, but the fact that the US doesn't operate "transit". Just to land and take off immediately means you have to go through full Immigration and Customs, and then a few minutes later do it again in reverse. Not only that, but Immigration there can be unbelievably stupid. When transiting to another plane flying out of the USA I have nonetheless often been asked what hotel I will be staying in (and they won't accept "none" as an answer - I usually have to make one up). On one occasion I was asked why I was transiting and not choosing to spend time in the USA - that wasn't a joke but a serious question requiring an answer. And at Customs I have been asked very seriously what goods I am bringing in that I intend to leave in the country, and again they wan't accept an answer "I'm not entering the country, so I can't be leaving anything".

THIS, and the nonsensical "security checks" you have to go through countless times in the USA, is why I for one hate flying via the US. If it's my destination I know I have to put up with it, but why on earth can't they copy European airports and have a secure transit lounge with no need to immigrate and then emigrate?

Peter, I think the issue for other nationalities IS the need for a visa, which they may not be able to get. The US is strict because if you didn't have to pass through customs having been "approved" as one with a legal visa, and could get into the departure areas (which would be the case if you were simply in transit), you can simply walk out the door and be an illegal immigrant, which many people, unlike enlightened Brits like yourself, would LOVE to do.
I was told that the lengthening of the Goldsen airstrip is about 500 feet short...good planning...and they cannot lengthen it anymore. As is, it's too short by standards to even land 757s, the "hotrod" of commercial airliners that needs only a short runway.

 

[peterbj7]

The way transit works where it's operated (London for example) there is no way for arriving transit passengers to go anywhere other than the secure transit lounge, unless they choose to head for Immigration instead. Non-transit passengers can't get into the transit lounge.

If the US operated this system there'd be no need for transiting passengers to get visas, even if for immigration they would need them.

And in most cases transit passengers have no access to either their checked baggage or shops, so there's no need for them to go through boarding security again.

If what you say about Goldson is correct, the new airport will be a boon to Placencia and points south, at considerable cost to the northern cayes.

 

[Hank49]

It's got to do with the Belize flight timing also. As in my case leaving Belize to international destinations, I have to overnight in Houston. I was told that a lot of flights coming in from Europe don't jibe with the almost all morning flights coming to Belize. 15 hours in a transit lounge?

 

[Gaz]

I had heard Placencia was getting a new International airport but I was sceptical that it was going to go ahead

Guess I have to get down there and buy some land LOL

Gaz

 

[Ralph Capeling]

The airport construction is well advanced and should open this year. It appears the strip is ready but the terminal construction has only recently started. Initial flights will be charters from Toronto. The original schedule was to be open late last year/early this year so the charters have been flying to Roatan and then using a Maya shuttle to bring people here.