Piarco International Airport

Piarco International Airport (IATA: POS, ICAO: TTPP) is an international airport serving the island of Trinidad and is one of two international airports in Trinidad and Tobago. The airport is 30 km (19 mi) east of Downtown Port of Spain, in the suburban town of Piarco. The airport is the primary hub and operating base for the country's national airline, as well as the Caribbean's largest airline, Caribbean Airlines.
Piarco International Airport has direct scheduled service to destinations in the United States, Canada, Central America, South America and Europe. It is also a significant transit hub for the Southern Caribbean and serves as the primary connection point for many passengers travelling from Guyana.
The Piarco Airport opened on 8 January 1931, to serve Venezuela's Compagnie Generale Aeropostale. Before this, the Queen's Park Savannah, the Mucurapo Field, and the Cocorite Docks (for flying boats) were used as airstrips to serve the island.
In World War II the original airfield was used by the Royal Navy for the Fleet Air Arm No. 1 Observer Training School with the base known as RNAS Piarco (HMS Goshawk). The following squadrons were based there until disbanding in 1945:
In 1942 it was also used by both the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force and United States Navy air squadrons. The airport was used both as a transport airfield and also for anti submarine patrol flights over the south Caribbean.
In World War II the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force stationed the following units at the airport performing anti submarine patrols:
It was returned to civil control after the war ended.
A major expansion of the airport, which included the construction of a new terminal building, and high-speed taxiways, was completed in 2001. The old airport building is currently used for cargo handling. Piarco International Airport is also the primary hub and operating base of Caribbean Airlines and was also the primary hub and operating base of the now defunct BWIA West Indies Airways and Air Caribbean. Briko Air Services and Aerial World Services operate a flight school at the airport.
In 2006 the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago commissioned a study for land use planning and urban development planning. All-Inclusive Project Development Services Limited was commissioned to conduct the study. The study was completed in October 2007 and approved by the Board. In 2011, work on the infrastructure of the North Aviation Business Park began. It was completed in 2013.
In December 2019, the European Union awarded the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago a grant of 1.5 million euros to finance the installation of a large-scale solar panel system at the Piarco International Airport, where ground-mounted solar panels will be installed with an annual generation capacity of 1,443,830 kWh and potentially avoid 1,010 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.
In 2021, 2022, and 2023 Piarco International Airport was rated the best airport in the Caribbean by Skytrax, winning the honor over three consecutive years.
In 2021, it was also named third best in the Caribbean and Latin American regions.
At Piarco International Airport there are two high-speed taxiways and three connector taxiways (ICAO Code F for new large aircraft). The airport has 82 ticket counter positions that operate under SITA's fibre-optic C.U.T.E. system which exceeds the recommended standards of ICAO and IATA.
The terminal is a fully air-conditioned, smoke-free building, equipped to handle peak-hour passenger traffic of 1,500 processing passengers through a fully computerised immigration system. The Customs Hall has four baggage/cargo carousels.
An administrative/operations building for the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard is being constructed at the Piarco Air Base. Also, a military airfield will be constructed near the air base.
The control tower at the old terminal building is currently used for air traffic control. The tower at the new terminal building is used for ramp control and runway movement control. A new nine-story control tower was opened in 2011.
The new North Terminal consists of 35,964 m (387,110 sq ft) of building with 14 second-level aircraft gates for international flights and 2 ground-level domestic gates. The overall layout of the building consists of three main elements: a landside core structure, a single-level duty-free shopping mall, and a two-level, Y-shaped concourse. 100-foot (30 m) cathedral ceilings and glass walls provide passengers and other visitors to the North Terminal with a sense of open space and magnificent views of the Piarco savannah and the nearby Northern Range mountains. The public atrium has the largest glass dome in the Caribbean
The airport is also large enough to accommodate most international widebody airliners including the Boeing 747, Airbus A330, Boeing 777, Boeing 767 and the Airbus A340.
The airport layout consists of one main terminal building which includes three concourses. These concourses are not strictly identified as their name depicts but are divided into the following areas; Gates 1–7 serving all other airlines, Gates 8-14 serving Caribbean Airlines, and the Tobago concourse serving flights to Tobago.
The Club Caribbean lounge is in the southern atrium, adjacent to Gates 8-14. The VIP Flyers lounge is adjacent to Gate 1, just outside the atrium.
The Air Guard of Trinidad and Tobago is based at Piarco International Airport. During the existence of BWIA West Indies, its head office was on the airport property.
The disused south terminal has been renovated into a VIP terminal for the Summit of The Americas. The North terminal has also received additional remote parking stands. In November 2009, upgrades on the south terminal were completed and the area now serves as a private/executive jet facility for high-end travellers.
In 2022, the sod was turned for a $12M solar park at the airport.
Piarco International Airport has two terminals. The south terminal was once the passenger terminal for the airport but has been renovated to serve as an executive terminal. It serves cargo flights, general aviation and helicopter flights. It has fourteen parking positions as well as light aircraft parking. In addition it has the Airports Administration Centre, the head office of the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. The North terminal is the main passenger terminal. It handles all the commercial passenger airline traffic. The north terminal has twenty-nine parking positions.
In addition to passenger airlines, the airport also handles cargo traffic, general aviation, military and helicopter flights to the many oil rigs present offshore.
The North Terminal is the main passenger terminal built in 2001, handling all commercial passenger airline traffic. It has a total of fourteen jetway gates spread among two concourses, with a total of twenty-nine parking positions spread among the three concourses. The concourses are not strictly named, but are split among Caribbean Airlines and all other airlines.
The western concourse includes a VIP Lounge, four remote stands, and serves all international airlines through gates 1-7. This concourse is connected to the rest of the airport via the joint southern atrium. Gates 8-14 form the eastern concourse serving all international Caribbean Airlines flights, as well as the location of the Club Caribbean lounge and eight remote stands.
The two concourses together form the international departures section of the airport, with a duty free mall area and panoramic views of the airfield and the Northern Range. The rest of the North Terminal consists of the check-in hall, public atrium, arrivals hall, local food court and the Tobago concourse, just outside the check-in hall. The Tobago concourse strictly serves domestic flights to Tobago and does not require the same infrastructure as an international departure hall, which is why there are just three parking positions.
The check-in hall contains 82 ticket counter positions, where Caribbean Airlines occupies the eastern extreme desks and the western extreme desks (designated for Tobago), and all other airlines occupy the remaining counters. The arrivals hall has 4 baggage claim belts, rental car facilities and restaurants. The public atrium itself is a social space consisting of fast food, shopping and seating underneath the largest glass dome in the Caribbean. It connects the international departures hall, Tobago concourse, arrivals hall and check-in hall.
The south terminal now serves general aviation, cargo and helicopter flights. It has a total of fourteen parking positions as well as offices for the Airport Administration Centre and the Airport Authority.
The airport is served by the east-west Churchill-Roosevelt Highway which runs to the north of the airport, and connects to the airport circular via BWIA Boulevard. The airport is also accessible from the south via the Caroni South Bank Road, which connects to the north-south Uriah Butler Highway at Caroni.
The Public Transport Service Corporation runs an hourly service during the week providing a bus connection between the airport and City Gate, Port of Spain. From City Gate, passengers can transit onto a bus to their final destination. Privately run taxi services are also available at the airport with fixed fares.
Rental car services are also available at the airport's curbside arrivals hall, from both local and foreign rental companies. The airport contains a large ground-level car park with fixed daily, weekly and monthly fares, as well as secondary parking north of the existing car park on an unfinished roadway, to which shuttle services are provided.
The airport underwent expansion and renovation works in preparation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in November 2009. These improvements included:
More recently, numerous upgrades have been conducted at the airport, and more are planned. These include:
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Trinidad:
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency