Spriggs Payne Airport

Spriggs Payne Airport
IATA: MLW – ICAO: GLMR MLW Location of Airport in Liberia
Summary
Airport type		Public
Serves		Monrovia, Liberia
Elevation AMSL		25 ft / 8 m
Coordinates		06°17′21″N 10°45′31″W / 6.28917°N 10.75861°W / 6.28917; -10.75861
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
05/23	6,000	1,829	Asphalt
Source: DAFIF[1]

The exterior of the main terminal at Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia, Liberia, taken from the parking area. The main entrance is at the center of the photograph under the green porte-cochere. The airline ticket office is at the far right.

James Spriggs Payne Airport (IATA: MLW, ICAO: GLMR) is an airport located three miles from downtown Monrovia, the capital of the Republic of Liberia in West Africa. The airfield is located within the busy and thickly-settled Sinkor section of the city, and is therefore convenient to the business and political districts of the capital. Whereas Roberts International Airport is the primary aviation facility for the city and indeed the entire country, Spriggs-Payne has the only other paved runway in Liberia and only other international commercial flights into and out of Liberia. The airport is named after James Spriggs Payne who was president of the Republic of Liberia in 1868-70 and again in 1876-78.

History

Spriggs-Payne was the primary location for domestic services within Liberia since the 1950s. Since early 1991, Spriggs-Payne has handled limited international flights. The airport served as a base for ECOMOG troops during the Liberian Civil War and suffered damage during that conflict, including a rocket attack by rebels in April 1996 which destroyed several aircraft.^[2]

From 2008 until mid-2010, scheduled commercial services were operated by Cameroon-based Elysian Airlines. The carrier established a significant operation at Spriggs-Payne, with weekly services to Freetown, Sierra Leone; Conakry, Guinea, and Banjul, the Gambia with connections to onward destinations such as Lagos, Nigeria and Douala, Cameroon. Elysian also connected the airport to several domestic destinations, with a weekly round-trip to Harper, and occasional stops in Greenville.

Elysian ceased operating in mid-2010, and the airport was left for a period without any scheduled commercial service. Later in 2010, Ethiopian Airlines changed its operations to Liberia, withdrawing its mainline jet services from Robertsfield to Accra and Addis Ababa. This was quickly replaced by the services of its affiliate, ASKY Airlines which began operating from Spriggs-Payne, flying initially to Accra, Banjul and Abidjan with onward service to its hub at Lome^[3]. In early 2011, the Banjul service was dropped, and the Abidjan service was substituted for a weekly non-stop flight to Bamako.^[4] As of May 2011, there is no scheduled domestic air service from Spriggs-Payne.

In January 2011, newly-formed Fly 6ix, designated as the new national airline of Sierra Leone^[5] began operating from Freetown with a single Embraer ERJ-135 regional jet. The airline's network includes twice-weekly service to Spriggs-Payne from Freetown and Conakry, with connecting service to Banjul.^[6]

Facilities

The airport facility consists of a collection of small, single-story buildings. The terminal itself has a passenger x-ray screening area at the entrance, a waiting room with satellite televisions, and a small bar. The airport is also equipped with immigration facilities to handle international arrivals. Elysian Airlines operates a ticket office outside the terminal building, and the United Nations occupies several operational offices facing the airside tarmac. In fact, Spriggs-Payne primary activity consists UN helicopter and aircraft operations.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
ASKY Airlines	Accra, Bamako, Lome
Fly 6ix	Conakry, Freetown, Banjul

Accidents and incidents

• On 10 June 1978, Vickers Viscount 9G-AGL of West African Air Cargo was damaged beyond economic repair when the undercarriage collapsed on landing.^[7]

References

1. ^ Airport information for GLMR at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006. (source: DAFIF)
2. ^ Ben R. Guttery, "Encyclopedia of African Airlines," McFarland & Company, Jefferson, 1998 p.108
3. ^ ASKY Airlines 2010 Route Map
4. ^ ASKY Airlines Online Timetable
5. ^ "President Koroma Inaugurates Fly 6ix Airline"
6. ^ Fly 6ix Online Schedule
7. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19780610-0. Retrieved 8 October 2009. 

External links

• Spriggs Payne Airport at GlobalSecurity.org
• Airport information for MLW / GLMR at Great Circle Mapper.
• Accident history for MLW at Aviation Safety Network