W.H. Bramble Airport, also known as Blackburne Airport, was a small international airport on the east coast of the island of Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean.
Named after Montserrat Chief Minister William Henry Bramble, the airport was located near the now-abandoned capital of Plymouth. The facility was destroyed in 1997 by an eruption of the nearby Soufriere Hills volcano. For several years afterwards, Montserrat had been only accessible by helicopters or boats until July 2005 when the new Gerald's Airport was completed on the north end of the island.
Bramble Airport had used the IATA airport code MNI, but this has now been transferred to the new Gerald's Airport.
|
| With the completion of Beatles producer George Martin’s AIR Studios Montserrat in 1979, the island attracted world-famous musicians who came to record in the peace and quiet and lush tropical surroundings of Montserrat. The last several years of the 20th century, however, brought two events which devastated the island.
In September 1989, Hurricane Hugo struck Montserrat with full force, damaging over 90 percent of the structures on the island. AIR Studios closed, and the tourist trade upon which the island depended was nearly wiped out. Within a few years, however, the island had recovered considerably — only to be struck again by disaster.
|
| Long referred to as "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean" for both its Irish heritage and its resemblance to coastal Ireland, Montserrat today remains lush and green. A new airport, opened officially by the Princess Royal Princess Anne in February 2005, received its first commercial flights on July 11, 2005, and docking facilities are in place at Little Bay where a new capital is being constructed out of reach of any further volcanic activity.
The people of Montserrat were granted full residency rights in the United Kingdom in 1998, and citizenship was granted in 2002.
|
|
.gif)
