Placencia in Belize will be closed for five months to undergo significant upgrades, according to a press release issued by the Belize Airports Authority. The airport will be shut between May 1 and September 30, 2020.
The main part of the works is a runway improvement, with the existing 650 x 7.6 metre strip lengthened and widened to 850 x 12 metres (with a 3 metre unpaved load-bearing shoulders on each side). The runway's threshold will also be displaced by 100 metres, to move it further away from a public road and it will receive International Civil Aviation Organization-certified runway markings. In addition, the airport's apron will be extended and its runway lighting systems improved.
"These upgrades will certainly accommodate Belize's and Placencia's increase in tourism arrivals as well as the aerodrome's safety and security margins," said Manuel Heredia, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation.
The airstrips two serving carriers - Maya Island Air (2M, Belize City Municipal) and Tropic Air (9N, San Pedro, BZ) - currently provide 202 and 75 weekly frequencies, predominantly to the domestic destinations of Belize City Municipal, Belize City International, Dangriga, and Punta Gorda. Tropic Air will be using Riversdale Airstrip at the north end of the Peninsula for the closure period.
