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MOUNT PLEASANT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CELEBRATES 20TH BIRTHDAY An International Airport Carved from Virgin Turf 8,000 miles from Base Penguin News, May 2005 Who could have imagined that a 2,590 metre runway could have been "implemented in under 18 months from landing on virgin soil?" Sir Rex Hunt's wonder at the achievement that was the opening of Mount Pleasant Airport twenty years ago is still shared by many today. The decision to build a civil and military airport at March Ridge to international standards means that the children and young people of the Islands had a real future as, "... free citizens of their own country," according to the August 1984 edition of the Falkland Islands Newsletter. The article described life in Stanley in the aftermath of the invasion by Argentine Forces in 1982 and their subsequent ousting by British Forces as "not comfortable". "The people of Stanley are adapting to the continuous changes brought about by the military presence, the contractors teams working on roads, housing and reconstruction projects; and influx of officials, experts, parliamentarians and press. The town is overcrowded and full of strange faces." Defence Minister at the time, Michael Heseltine, announced in the House of Commons on 27 June 1983 that the decision had been taken to construct a new Falklands airport at Mount Pleasant instead of Stanley, because even allowing for the cot of a road between the new airport and Stanley it would be less expensive. He added that the Mount Pleasant site would also be less likely to suffer unforeseen delays and interruptions, also traffic at the existing Stanley Airport would not have to be restricted during construction. The contract was for works to the value of £190 million to which would be added the cost of the road from Mount Pleasant to Stanley and a separate MoD contract for communications and navigational aids, making a total of £215 million. Details of the new British Government Defence budget released on 6 July 1983 announced an allowance of £624 million for the defence of the Falklands and Territories. This was in addition to the price of the new airport and represented 4% of Britain's projected total defence budget. Penguin News reported in March 1984 that work was progressing well and there was confidence that a basic airstrip would be operational by April 1985. "Many Falkland Islanders have been pleasantly surprised at the consortium's progress. Memories of construction companies active in the Falklands over the last ten years or so have rather tainted respect for the construction business as a whole, but so far there have been no excuses or budget excesses at Mount Pleasant." In November 1984, Penguin News in the form of reporter Rob McBride travelled to Mount Pleasant to see how work was progressing. He wrote that the Entertainments Manager at the site was pleased to inform him that the 42nd sport had just been added to the list of activities available in the massive recreation complex: "The fact that a massive entertainments centre existed at all on this equally massive construction site only 46 weeks after bulldozers dug into the strips of earth that would eventually support the airstrips is almost unbelievable. The same feeling of incredulity must have been experienced by PSA's regional director, Maurice Chammings when he first looked out at the proposed site from the window of a shepherd's hut in August 1982. The land he saw then and the land on which I was standing in the Sports Centre was then little more than a bog." Mr Chammings is reported to have been pleased with the progress considering the only materials available to them locally were stone and water - everything else had to be shipped from the UK. By this stage of the operation a quarter of a million tonnes of supplies had been hauled across the decks of the Merchant Providence who was berthed at East Cove and had become a 'jetty head'. At the outset of the project communications were a problem, with the only link with the outside world being a Marasat system on Merchant Providence which provided a single telephone/telex line via satellite to the international world. In December 1983 Cable and Wireless opened the Earth Station in Stanley and on completion of the site offices at Mount Pleasant the system was utilised using a UHV radio signal link beamed from a disc aerial at the offices, received by a special disc aerial erected in Stanley by LMA and then automatically beamed by the earth station via Intelsat to the UK. This provided computer links, telefax and telephones not only for business purposes but also enabled the work force to dial direct from public call boxes. LMA's Project Manager WYN Kendrick was delighted at the progress that had been made in such a short period of work, "I don't think that anywhere in the world there has been an airport built this quickly." A shift system kept LMA workers busy around the clock and the article referred to the labourers as 'jet-age' prospectors who had come to look for gold in the dirt of the airport site. "An ordinary labourer can expect to take home a tax-free £10,000 in his pay packet at the end of a year with a £155 bonus on top of that." The workers also got a month's paid midterm leave in the UK. In turn, LMA expected every man to "do his duty" and had no hesitation in removing "misfits" who could disrupt their "well oiled machine". LMA's Wyn Kendrick said it was an exciting concept to build something as big as an airport in a place like this. To carve an international airport out of virgin turf 8,000 miles from base is a huge achievement, simply summed up by one of the labourers who told Rob McBride, "There's going to be one hell of a party next April." On 12 May 1985 HRH Prince Andrew, who was already in the Islands as a Royal Navy Officer, performed the opening ceremony, unveiling a commemorative plaque in the main hangar and receiving a relief map of the Islands crafted in silver which was presented by Oliver Whitehead, Chairman of the Joint Venture. A flight on 12 May 1985 carried dignitaries such as Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine, Housing and Construction Minister, Ian Gow, Foreign Office Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Tim Renton, Lord Shackleton, Lord Buxton, representatives of the main parties in the House of Commons and from the construction companies. Sir Rex Hunt, Falkland Islands Civil Commissioner, and Commander of the British Forces, Peter de la Billiere, also took part. A 'proving' flight was made two weeks prior to the official opening which had prompted spontaneous celebrations but the official opening was a more formal affair. In his speech HRH Prince Andrew said the story of the construction of Phase 1, the runway and hangar was an example of "imaginative and meticulous planning with the heroic efforts and dedication of a British work force". He said the achievement and success was an example of "British ability and British engineering". A cake measuring ten feet by twenty inches depicting the airport's hangar and runway, made in Paisley, was cut into 2,000 portions and distributed to Islanders. Many of the Falklands population travelled from near and far to witness the opening of the airport which had been beyond their wildest dreams. For those who travelled from West Falkland who rarely visited the East, it was phenomenal to see a runway and the largest building in the Falklands - not to mention what could only be described as another town - sitting on a site which previously had hosted nothing more than a few sheep, cows and horses - and a road all the way from Stanley to the airport. The airport offered a valuable link with
Britain for all, but most importantly for those people of the Falklands
still living with a sense of uncertainty, it offered security and showed a
huge commitment by Britain which ironically, given the nature of the
project, served to keep a lot of people in the Islands. Not
forgetting of course, it has also brought many people home. The Construction of Mount Pleasant Airport - Facts and Figures Excavation - 2 million cubic metres
June 1982 - The British Government
decides to construct a new airport on the Falkland Islands
"The Falklands airport emerges from
rock and peatbog" - The Times, May 11 This Article first appeared in the Penguin News on 6 May 2005 and is reproduced with the kind permission of the Editor
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Introduction, Brief
History, Timeline, 1982
Articles, 1982
Timeline, 1982 Documents, Articles,
Agreements, UN
Resolutions
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