Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport

Terrance B. Lettsome International is the principal airport of the British Virgin Islands, located on Beef Island on the eastern tip of Tortola and connected to the main island by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. Despite the BVI's small resident population (approximately 31,000), the airport plays an outsized role in Caribbean aviation: the territory is one of the world's largest offshore bareboat charter yachting centers, with the protected waters between Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke, and the Norman Island anchorages drawing a clientele that arrives largely by air to Tortola before boarding yachts at marinas like Nanny Cay, Road Harbour, and Trellis Bay. A single 1,415 m (4,642 ft) asphalt runway constrains the airport to regional aircraft — Saab 340, ATR, and smaller turboprops — and prevents direct long-haul service. Approximately 72 routes to 39 destinations are served by 16 airlines, nearly all connecting from St. Thomas (STT), San Juan (SJU), St. Maarten (SXM), Antigua, or Puerto Rico's other gateway airports. American Eagle, Silver Airways, interCaribbean, Cape Air, Tradewind Aviation, Seaborne, and InterIslandAir operate scheduled services; a substantial unscheduled and charter operation supports yacht crew and VIP arrivals to destinations like Virgin Gorda's private-island resorts (Richard Branson's Necker, Oil Nut Bay, Rosewood Little Dix Bay). The airport was renamed in 2002 for Terrance B. Lettsome, a longtime Chief Minister. A proposed runway-extension project to enable direct US service has been repeatedly studied but has encountered environmental and financial obstacles, leaving EIS structurally constrained as a feeder airport. The BVI also uses St. Thomas (a short ferry to West End or Road Town) as an effective secondary gateway for US-origin visitors. Passenger traffic is typically 150,000–200,000 annually.