Chaille International Airport

Chaille International Airport Passenger Terminal

**Chaille International Airport** (French: Aéroport international de Chaille, is the primary international airport located in the province of Arleans, serving the capital of that province, Chaille. It is situated 10 north east of Chaille City. It opened in 1982.

## History

Chaille International Airport was originally established as Chaille-Polynesia Aerodrome by the French in 1941, so as to have an airbase capable of defending their interests in the Southern Pacific from Imperial Japan. The simple dirt runway, hastily carved by hand out of a hillside to the north of Chaille City by local Chaillens under supervision of the French, was quickly joined by an assortment of hangars & military operations buildings, and the base swelled to become the largest French overseas military airbase.

Following the end of World War II, the aerodrome was left derelict as there was no longer the need for such a facility on Maurits. The hangars & buildings began falling into disrepair and the compound became a haven for looters, vandalism & anti-social behavior. A cult was notable locally for partaking in human scarifies & other rituals undisturbed by local authorities. In an effort to clamp down on this behavior, the local government removed the standing structures and buildings in 1961 and transported the rubble away to use as building material elsewhere in Arleans, and high fencing was erected around the site, leaving the faint traces of the runway as the only visible historic marker of the sites previous use.

The site was left derelict & unused until it was selected for the site of a new & modern international commercial airport for Arleans as a result of the implantation of a program that aimed to enhance connectivity to regional & rural locations in Mauritian Republic that also saw other airports such as Tribelle Airport being opened. The airport reopened in 1982, which a new 2,928m concrete runway, modern terminal building, control tower, modern flight operations facilities, hangars & cargo facilities. The project cost the government nearly 697m*f,* a controversial figure given that the nation was in a time of economic stagnation and taking into account that Tribelle airport, built around the same time, cost just 95m*f*. Following public outcry & significant accusations regarding misuse of funds causing the cost to explode, the local government launched a corruption investigation against the contractor of the airport and state officials responsible for its development just a year after it opened in 1983, however due to lack of resources, the investigation was suspended in 1985 with no conclusive findings.

During the 1980's-1990's Tourism Boom, the airport did not benefit as much as others did as a result of its location in an area not too popular for tourism, however there was manageable & modest levels of growth in passenger numbers & flights during this time.

Due to a small electrical fire affecting a sever room in December 2001, it was subsequently discovered that the airport was not built to appropriate fire safety & building construction standards, and that over 350million*f* would need to be invested to bring the terminal up to modern standards by means of totally rebuilding the terminal from the inside, leaving the external walls as virtually the only original feature being retained. As a result of the structural security & safety being of the building brought into question, Maurits Airports Group B.V closed the terminal to passengers from late December 2001 to March 2002, during the height of the high tourist season, in order to allow the airport authority time to decide whether to complete the necessary work on the original terminal to bring it up to standard, demolish the terminal and start building a new one from scratch, or just to close the airport entirely for commercial operations. In March 2002 a temporary terminal was opened nearby to the original terminal to resume a limited amount of passenger activity, however as a result of the lack of infrastructure, space & facilities at the temporary terminal, Mauritsair closed all flights from the airport and relocated all its Arleans flights to Chilliobrieu Airport, however as a result of its smaller runway and size, the airline dumped a vast majority of its flights to/from Arleans. The temporary terminal was closed just a few months later in September 2002 due to lack of demand, leaving the airport with no commercial flights, bringing a massive blow to the local economy and causing sustainable damage to the economic & employment stability of Chaille City & Arleans.

In September 2004, following a comprehensive funding drive, public consultation & planning process, Maurits Airports Group B.V commissioned a new two story passenger terminal from scratch, costing 240million*f.* The terminal opened in November 2006, with Mauritsair resuming passenger flights from Chaille for the first time in nearly 5 years. Mauritsair relaunched international flights from the airport later in 2007, with flights to Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Papeete, San Francisco & Nadi launching.

The airport has seen poor growth since its reopening for passenger operations, with passenger numbers stagnating due to lack of capacity from international air carriers, leaving critics to call the airport a "white elephant".

In recent years, the airport has been attempting to attract American, Australian & New Zealander tourists heading to the various Ski & outdoor recreation resorts located in the unnamed mountain range to the West of the airport by routing them directly through Chaille International Airport, however due to the poor road links & comparatively long journey times between the key cluster of resorts & Chaille International Airport, many will choose to fly into Fort Orleans before connecting onto flights bound for Chillobrieu Airport, which while smaller, is located significantly closer to the final destination of many tourists. Nonetheless, the airport reaffirms that its strategy remains being to capture the bulk of travelers heading to this destination within 5 years, but says consideration must be given to an expensive road-way to link Chaille to this area.

## Operations

The passenger terminal contains several shopping and eating facilities both before and after the security screening area, a bank with bureau de change service and an executive lounge. There are eight gates in the airport, six of which have an airbridge. Wi-Fi is available throughout the terminal.

## Airlines & Destinations

As of June 2020, the following operate from Chaille International Airport.

 Air Tahiti
 Aircalin
 Hawaiian Airlines
 Mauritsair | Auckland, Chaletria-Maurits, Chillobrieu, Christchurch, Fort Orleans International, Kesteinburg, Nadi, Niue, Pago Pago, Papeete, Port Vila, Rarotonga, Sydney

## Ground Transport

The airport is served by a variety of Transport methods to/from the Chaille City, as well as across the island.

#### **Car**

The airport offers a variety of parking facilities, with both short-term and long-term parking within the campus and over 2,600 spaces in total. A number of companies offer car-hire such as Hertz, Budget and Europcar in the arrivals hall of the terminal building.

#### **Ferry**

Although not directly linked to any ferry or sea ports, the airport is situated ~9km to the north of Chaille Ferryport, where ferries connect the city with Zupel, Ervilla and the capital Fort Orleans in several hours.

#### **Bus**

Local bus routes 232 & 640 call at the terminal, linking the airport to the center of Chaille City and to nearby suburbs & towns. There are also connections to several other cities in Arleans such as Vabevoyers, Ouserolle & Borlines, amongst many others. There are facilitates for private bus transfers & operators provided.

#### **Taxi**

Taxi services can be limited from the airport due to a shortage of cab operators in the city of Chille, with only a reliable supply of Taxi's being available for passengers in the evenings when flights from Australia, New Zealand or United States arrive.

## Accidents & Incidents

• On May 19th 1989, a Mauritsair Boeing 747-200B collided with some gulls 3 minutes after departing from the airport enroute to Osaka Kansai, subsequently the pilots decided to divert to Fort Orleans International and preformed a normal landing, passengers were transferred to an awaiting Boeing 747 on standby to continue their journey. Nobody was injured.

• On January 24th 1992, an American Airlines Boeing 767-200ER collided with some gulls directly after departing the airport during a flight to Los Angeles via Honolulu, which resulted in an engine failure. The aircraft returned to the airport & performed an emergency landing. Nobody was injured.

• On March 2nd 1997, a privately owned Gulfstream IV jet attempted to divert to the airport during a charter flight enroute from Chaletria-Maurits Airport to Bora Bora, French Polynesia as a result of an urgent technical fault affecting the plane's control systems. The aircraft declared a mayday at 12:56 local time 23 minutes after departing Chalteria-Maurits, passing over Orignes, Arleans and requested priorty to divert to Chille, however at 13:01 local time air traffic control lost contract with the aircraft after it collided with the ground following a midair break up, killing all 6 people on-board. The investigation blamed the incident on improper maintenance and metal fatigue.

• On January 12th 1998, a Mauritsair Fokker 100 operating a passenger flight from Chille to Tribelle Airport collided with a flock of gulls during final approach to land, causing minor damage to the windshield of the cockpit. The flight landed normally. Following this incident the airport spend lots of money to disperse the Gull settlement located near the airport due to the frequent disruption they caused to flights and the several previous incidents of direct collision with aircraft.

• On August 22nd 2000, the airport was closed for several hours as a result of a teenager firing shots and attempting to machete staff and passengers in the airports arrival lounge under the belief that those arriving into the airport where "assassins sent to kill [him] sent from the Soviet Union". Police were called to the scene and quickly arrested the man, who was subsequently diagnosed with mental illness. A Bureau Du Change attendant received minor injuries as a result of the incident.

• On December 17th 2001, the airport was closed for a period of time as a result of an electrical fire in the airport server room revealing significant structural issues with the terminal building.

• On January 2nd 2007, a Mauritsair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 was written off after the front aircraft landing gear collapsed during landing at the airport on a flight from Auckland, causing the underwing engines to collide with the runway. Within several seconds engine 2 exploded and caused the right hand wing to catch fire, and an evacuation of the aircraft took place as soon as it came to a stop. 29 passengers received severe injuries as a result of the landing and subsequent evacuation, while 126 received minor injuries.

• On September 16th 2016, a Mauritsair Fokker 50 collided with some unidentified birds after take-off, however they inflicted no major damage to the aircraft and so the flight continued to its final destination. This incident raised concerns about the potential return of nesting gulls near the airport runway.