Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base

Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base (IATA: SPB, FAA LID: VI22), also known as St. Thomas Seaplane Base, is located in the harbor by Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. This private-use airport is owned by the Virgin Islands Port Authority.^[1]

Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base St. Thomas Seaplane Base
IATA: SPB ICAO: none FAA LID: VI22
Summary
Airport type	Private
Owner	Virgin Islands Port Authority
Location	Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Elevation AMSL	0 ft / 0 m
Coordinates	18°20′19″N 064°56′27″W
Map
SPB Location in the Virgin Islands
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m E/W 10,000 3,048 Water N/S 4,000 1,219 Water
Statistics (2005)
Enplanements 71,555
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

The terminal

As per Federal Aviation Administration records, this seaplane base had 76,820 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2004 and 71,555 enplanements in 2005.^[2]

Facilities

Charlotte Amalie Harbor Seaplane Base covers an area of 3 acres (12,000 m²) and has two seaplane landing areas:^[1]

• Runway E/W: 10,000 ft × 4,000 ft (3,048 m × 1,219 m), surface: water
• Runway N/S: 4,000 ft × 4,000 ft (1,219 m × 1,219 m), surface: water

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Seaborne Airlines	St. Croix–Harbor

Historical air service

Historically, Virgin Islands Seaplane Shuttle^[3][4][5][6] operated scheduled passenger service during the 1980s from the Charlotte Amalie seaplane base with Grumman Mallard aircraft. These Grumman amphibious aircraft were powered either by piston engines or by turboprop engines via a powerplant conversion program. During the 1970s, Antilles Air Boats^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]} operated several different types of seaplanes in scheduled passenger service from the harbor as well including the Consolidated PBY Catalina (Super Catalina version), Grumman Goose, Grumman Mallard, Short Sandringham S-25 and Vought Sikorsky VS-44.

Renaming the seaplane terminal

The terminal was named the Charles F. Blair, Jr.^{[13][14][15][16][17]} terminal in honor of Charles F. Blair, Jr., an aviation pioneer and the founder of the seaplane airline, Antilles Air Boats.