Belize... the International Airport Experience

When I first landed in Belize in the early 1980s, the airport, in the (then) capital of Belize City, was little more than a single small building and airstrip lined with a bunch of British Harrier jump jets. One of those jets remains as a reminder in front of the terminal building of (BZE) Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport (PGIA). Thanks to Darren's Page - KG Imagery LLC for the great photo. Does anyone have any older photos of the airport terminal and the jump jets?

Daily flight arrivals and departures for BZE can be tracked here. Wikipedia article on BZE here.  The Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport (PGIA) was originally constructed in 1943, when a 5,000 feet asphalt runway, a taxiway and small apron were constructed.  In 1944, a terminal building was constructed and inaugurated on January 15, 1945.  Today, the PGIA boasts a 7,100 feet runway and 615,800 sq. ft. of parking apron... Expansion of the runway and apron to accommodate wide body, longer haul aircraft is in progress.

Barely two years after airport construction in 1945, this ad appeared in a major US newspaper (? NY Times)... still British Honduras and the capital is called Belize... not Belize City. Formerly known as British Honduras, until the name was changed in 1973.  Belize gained its independence September 1st, 1981 and was then admitted to the United Nations. The capitol city of Belize is now Belmopan... fifty miles inland.

TACA Airways System’s Central America – "Now, Taca offers daily, scheduled flights to Central America" (1947)


Those of us who fly in and out of PGIA with any regularity, get to know "Jet" at his famous Jet's Bar and hot dog stand... for a humorous bit of "flavor" of the departure waiting area at PGIA, have a look at this. Thanks to nachounderpants.com for the great blog. There must be a ton of other stories out there... send them in! And then there's this blog from the "Travel Boomer."

Haiti...

I suspect that lots of folks our age have made comparisons between last night's "Hope For Haiti Now" telethon musical extravaganza and "We Are The World" from many years ago.  I have to admit... Justin Timberlake's name didn't come rolling out of my brain easily. Soap Opera star maybe? If you haven't listened to "Hallelujah" then set yourself up for a treat.  If that doesn't get you set up for a donation... then listen to Bruce Springsteen. And if that doesn't get you... listen to this.

Airfares to Belize...

For those of you thinking about or already planning a trip to Belize... here is a web site that shows fares from many US cities. It's automatically updated after doing searches for you. Pretty slick...

Check for better airfares --- Flights to Belize from selected US cities.

Belize... early morning

Early morning shots at the very east end of the Placencia Airstrip.

saltydogtales

Be sure to have a look at Carl's saltydogtales today... it's a great re-telling, with photos, of some of the history of Belize, the Garifuna and the New Year's celebration.

Christmas Dinner with Eldon and Mary Ann

Our wonderful friends from Arkansas, Eldon and Mary Ann Mead came for Christmas Dinner. Eldon is a great cook!

Great Fishing in Belize...

Our friends, Kristen, Alison and Tater went fishing with Kevin Modera on New Year's Eve... have a look at these photos in Kristen's Facebook album.