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The Boscobel Aerodrome in Jamaica was officially
re-opened as Ian Fleming International Airport this
week...
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Ian Fleming International Airport Opened
14th January 2011
The parish of St. Mary has joined the elite capital cities of
Kingston and the tourist Mecca, Montego Bay, St. James of having
an international airport. The Boscobel Aerodrome, which now goes
by the name, Ian Fleming International Airport (IFIA), was officially
opened by Prime Minister, Hon. Bruce Golding on Wednesday 12th
January 2011.
“This is a significant investment, not just in the buildings
and the runway, but in Jamaica’s future. This is also an
investment of confidence,” the Prime Minister said. He
commended the various agencies on their collaborative efforts
in completing the facility. Mr. Golding said it was a strategic
decision to re-name the facility after Ian Fleming, creator of
James Bond, and thanked the Fleming family for allowing the Jamaican
Government to use the name, for which no royalties were charged.
Above: Prime Minister Bruce Golding
(third right) cuts the ribbon to declare open the Ian
Fleming airport, previously called the Boscobel Aerodrome,
in St Mary on Wednesday. Sharing the moment are, from
left, Mark Hart, chairman Airports Authority of Jamaica,
Minister of Transport and Works Mike Henry, niece of
Ian Fleming, Lucy Fleming, Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett
and minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications
and Special Projects Daryl Vaz. In the background from
left are mayor of Port Maria, Richard Creary and Custos
of St Mary Alric Pottinger.
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The small airport, formerly called the Boscobel Aerodrome, features
a terminal with customs and immigration sections to accommodate
global travelers. Officials said the facility just outside the
coastal town of Orcabessa is the Caribbean island's third international
airport.
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“Ian Fleming made a contribution
to Jamaica and gave Jamaica an image much larger than it
would otherwise have had, because this was where the adrenalin
flowed; where the creativity emerged that enabled him to
write the James
Bond novels,” he said. “We
also considered that the market to which we are appealing
is a market to which the name Ian Fleming would have some
resonance. We genuinely wanted to honour the memory of
Ian Fleming because of all that he has achieved and the
extent to which he brought Jamaica into that achievement...and
we wanted to take advantage of his celebrity status.” he
added. Ian Fleming International Airport, located just
five miles from the resort town of Ocho Rios, will cater
to the needs of high-end tourists and the general aviation
market. |
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Above: Lucy
Fleming and Prime Minister Bruce Golding unveil the plaque
at the Ian Fleming International Airport yesterday. At
right is Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry.
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The 007 author's niece, Lucy Fleming, who traveled from her
Oxfordshire home in southwestern England to attend the ribbon-cutting
ceremony, said her uncle would have been thrilled to see an airport
emblazoned with his name in the Jamaican parish of St. Mary.
"He adored Jamaica and found so much inspiration and relaxation
here. So I tell you something, to have this accolade of having
an airport named after him here I know would have been a great
honor for him," Fleming said. "Honestly, I don't think
he would have written those (Bond) books without Jamaica.
Above: Primary School students
perform at the official opening of the Ian Fleming
International Airport, located in Boscobel, St. Mary.
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Fleming first visited Jamaica in 1942, when he was an intelligence
agent in Bermuda. He returned and bought a property he dubbed
GoldenEye four years later -- in the dying days of the British
Empire, when the north shore of Jamaica teemed with scions of
wealthy British families and American celebrities like Errol
Flynn.
Music industry mogul Blackwell, who also attended the opening,
said the airport will be a boon not only for his nearby GoldenEye
resort, but also for the nearby tourist mecca of Ochio Rios and
the northeastern town of Port Antonio. "It's very well set
up," said Blackwell, whose GoldenEye retreat is the flagship
resort of his Island Outpost company, which has a collection
of hotels and villas in Jamaica and the Bahamas.
