Runway for Gozo

I write as a follow-up to George Gauci's letter Gozo Airstrip (November 9). Probably he will not stir up the hornet's rest with his suggestion to treat the matter with urgency, but he will for sure if he insists on converting the present Gozo Heliport into "a secondary airport suitable for low-cost airlines".

It is clear from suggestions of this type that there is widespread confusion as to what type of aviation infrastructure an island as small as Gozo requires and can afford. Contrary to imagination, there is simply no space for "a secondary airport suitable for low-cost airlines" on Gozo! Although being defined as "secondary" in no way does this mean that they are small.

Rather the opposite is true. Most of these secondary airports are former military airbases with runways exceeding 2,400 metres with an intricate system of taxiways, aprons and aircraft shelters. The notorious Ryanair hub at Hahn (Frankfurt) is a good example of this. It is impossible for reasons of space and cost to have a secondary airport built on Gozo - it would consume about one sixth of the island's superficial area for no justifiable return.

I can still well remember the monstrous outline plan published in a local paper some time around 1986-87 proposing a fully-fledged airport on Gozo having two long runways set at an angle to each other. Many suspect that the Air Malta Avroliner decision could in some ways have been connected with a similar full-scale development. Thank God this proposal never saw the light. The word "airport" should never be used in the Gozo context.

On the other hand, I firmly believe that there is just one simple effective compromise solution. This involves the construction of one runway 800 metres long by 30 metres wide capable of handling safely medium-sized turboprop airliners such as the DHC-6 Twin Otter (19 seats), Beech 1900 (19 seats), Shorts 360 (30 seats) and the DHC-7 (36 seats). This runway could be laid in an east-west heading - admittedly not the most ideal orientation - to the south of the existing heliport most of it lying on public land with little disturbance to private property and environment. By limiting the runway strip to 800 metres the STOLport would be outside the reach of jet powered aircraft, hence the authorities would put the mind of environmentalists worried by noise pollution emanating from jet aircraft at rest. The existing strip (172 metres x 22 metres) could serve as a parking apron for commuter aircraft and light private planes.

This solution was adapted by the Norwegians 35 years ago with the construction of 24 STOLports over a period of 16 years. Allow me to reproduce part of an article extracted from the reputable Air International monthly of December 2003:

"Simplicity is the key feature in the STOLports. The Norwegian authorities built a 2,620 feet x 98 feet (800 metres x 30 metres) asphalt runway and a smaller asphalt apron close to each community served. A small terminal building incorporates an Aerodrome Flight Information Service (AFIS) control tower and a minimum of personnel. Four were built in 1968, and over the next 16 years a further 20 were built across the 1,050-mile country.

"Many of these STOLports boast only the most basic navigational aids: only one (Alta) is equipped with an Instrument Landind System (ILS), the others only having a VOR/DME approach. A number operate with only a Localiser, which can be offset by as much as 40 degrees!

"When the STOLports were built in the late 1960s, they put them where no pilot would choose to build an airport. Flying into Hammerfast with blowing snow and a 35-knot crosswind certainly concentrates the mind. The 800-metre runway ends with a 200 feet cliff!"

The reasons why the authorities are reluctant to invest a mere Lm1 million to give the Gozitans this very important node in their transport network are beyond me. I do not think that financing the project is really the problem. I am sure that a financing mix of shares, bonds and straightforward long-term loans would easily raise the necessary funding - and I am pretty sure that it will be the Gozitans themselves who would want to fund this project.

The only feasible way forward to establish an efficient air-link between the two islands is fixed-wing operation. The miserable performance by the existing helicopter service speaks volumes. A well-managed fixed-wing operation could offer significantly lower fares than the highly expensive helicopter Lm50-return ticket. Besides ensuring an affordable service, a fixed-wing operation could potentially give Gozo "international" connections to Catania, Palermo, Cagliari, Bari, Corfu, Cephalonia, Crete, Lampedusa, Hammamet, etc.

Looking north we can easily come across successful inter-island commuter services. Good examples appear in the form of Skybus operating services between the Isles of Scilly and the UK mainland, Aurigny operating services between the Channel Islands and mainland France and UK, Aer Aarann operating flights out of Aran Islands in Eire and a handful of other smaller operators serving Scottish islands. Do we have the political and business will and technical skills to emulate the success of these operators?

I conclude with one final comment. I prefer to refer to airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair as "low-fare" not "low-cost" airlines. Although they might be able to offer low fares, I am sure that the cost of their operations is not as low as one might imagine.