Henry E. Rohlsen Airport

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport
Henry E. Rohlsen Airport
	IATA: STX; ICAO: TISX; FAA LID: STX;
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Virgin Islands Port Authority
Serves	St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands
Elevation AMSL	74 ft / 23 m
Coordinates	17°42′16″N 064°48′06″W / 17.70444°N 64.80167°W
Website	www.viport.com/herastx
Maps
	; FAA airport diagram
Runways
Statistics (2023)
Total passengers
Total passengers	472,000
Aircraft movements	25,807
Based aircraft	37
	Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (IATA: STX, ICAO: TISX, FAA LID: STX) is a public airport six miles (10 km) southwest of Christiansted on the island of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.^[1] The airport is named after Henry E. Rohlsen, a St. Croix native who was one of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.

The airport, which was a hub for Aero Virgin Islands in the 1970s and 1980s, can receive jets up to the size of the Boeing 747s. Before 1996 the airport was known as Alexander Hamilton International Airport.^[2]

History

During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force stationed the 12th Bombardment Squadron (25th Bombardment Group) at the airport for antisubmarine patrols flying B-18 Bolo aircraft from November 8, 1941, to November 10, 1942. During the time the military operated the airport, it was called Benedict Airfield. When the airport was transferred to civilian control, it was renamed to honor former St. Croix resident Alexander Hamilton.

Several airlines have operated scheduled passenger jet service to St. Croix in the past, including Air Florida with Douglas DC-9-10s, Caribair with McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s, Continental Airlines with Boeing 727-200s, Eastern Airlines with Boeing 727-100s, 727-200s and 757-200s, Midway Airlines with Boeing 737-200s, Pan Am with Boeing 727-200s as well as wide-body Airbus A300B4s,^[3] and Trans Caribbean Airways with Boeing 727-200s.^[4] American Airlines has served St. Croix for many years. In 1974, American served the airport with Boeing 707 and Boeing 727-100 jetliners with nonstop flights to New York City.^[5] In 1994, American operated Airbus A300-600R wide-body jets into St. Croix with nonstop service to Miami.^[6] A Boeing 747 carrying relief supplies during the aftermath of Hurricane Marilyn landed at the airport in 1995. Satellite imagery shows the presence of C-17 and C-130 military transports in 2006 and 2015.

On November 11, 2018, the world's second-largest cargo airplane, the Antonov An-124, landed on St. Croix to deliver building supplies for houses as part of the hurricane recovery.^[7]

Facilities and aircraft

Henry E. Rohlsen Airport covers an area of 1,455 acres (589 ha), which contains one asphalt-paved runway (10/28) measuring 10,004 ft × 150 ft (3,049 m × 46 m). For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2013, the airport had 36,287 aircraft operations, an average of 99 per day: 68% air taxi, 25% general aviation, 6% scheduled commercial and 1% military. In the same period, 36 aircraft were based at this airport, including 11 single-engine, 15 multi-engine, five jets, four military aircraft and one helicopter.^[1]

Terminal modernization and expansion project

In August 2018, the Virgin Islands Port Authority (VIPA) held a charrette to announce and discuss the terminal's expansion and renovation.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12] On March 14, 2019, the VIPA announced that bidding for phase one of the upgrade project would be in September.^[13]^[14] The renovation was expected to be complete within a year.^[15]

VIPA had begun the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport Terminal Expansion and Modernization Project as of September 2020. The improvements to the terminal will be completed in four phases over a six-year period.

Phase one entails enclosing 5,500 square feet of walkway space to increase the lounge's seating capacity, refurbishing the existing passenger lounge space and restrooms, enclosing the 1,100-square-foot open-air gardens with a new roof structure to provide additional concessions space, and upgrading the mechanical systems for the additional air-conditioned area.

Phase one is estimated to cost $8.6 million and was funded by a $7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration in 2019 with a local match of $1.6 million from the VI Port Authority. The construction was anticipated to take 18 months and end in March 2022, but was ahead of schedule and ended on December 21, 2021.^[16]

Phases two through four include the addition of a second level to accommodate jet bridges, additional hold room, concession and retail space, improvement of passenger flow and baggage handling in the terminal; redesign, expansion, and modernization of the interior of the terminal to make the best use of the existing floor plan; the addition of tropical landscaping; and changes to improve the flow of vehicular traffic. Expanding the terminal will allow St. Croix to take full advantage of its 10,000-foot runway.

While Phase 1 of the HERA Terminal Expansion is fully funded, VIPA is actively seeking funding sources for Phases 2 through 4. The project is estimated to cost $140 million.^[17]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
American Airlines	Miami Seasonal: Charlotte
Cape Air	Nevis, Saint Thomas, San Juan, Vieques^[18]
Delta Air Lines	Seasonal: Atlanta
Fly The Whale	Saint Thomas,^[19] San Juan–Isla Grande^[20]
Frontier Airlines	San Juan
JetBlue	San Juan (resumes December 12, 2024)^[21]
Silver Airways	San Juan
Sky High	Seasonal: Santo Domingo–Las Américas
Spirit Airlines	Fort Lauderdale

Destination map
St. Croix Miami Charlotte Atlanta Fort Lauderdale class=notpageimage\| Destinations from Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX) Red = Year-round destination Green = Seasonal destination Blue = Future destination

Destination map - regional
St. Croix Saint Thomas San Juan Santo Domingo San Juan–Isla Grande class=notpageimage\| Destinations from Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX) Red = Year-round destination Green = Seasonal destination Blue = Future destination

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Aviation	San Juan
FedEx Express	San Juan

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from STX (March 2023 – February 2024)^[22]
Rank	Airport	Passengers	Carriers
1	Miami, Florida	95,230	American
2	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	46,450	Spirit
3	Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands	45,520	Cape Air, Silver, Fly The Whale
4	San Juan, Puerto Rico	32,230	Cape Air, Sea Flight, Silver
5	Charlotte, North Carolina	16,930	American
6	Atlanta, Georgia	15,250	Delta

Airline market share

Largest airlines at STX (March 2023 - February 2024)^[23]
Rank	Airline	Passengers	Share
1	American Airlines	224,000	44.34%
2	Spirit Airlines	98,880	18.61%
3	Silver Airways	66,220	13.13%
4	Fly The Whale	56,780	11.26%
5	Delta Airlines	30,510	6.05%
6	Other	33,330	6.61%

Accidents and incidents

On July 24, 1979, Prinair Flight 610 crashed shortly after takeoff from Alexander Hamilton Airport. One crew member and seven passengers were killed.^[24]
On December 7, 2017, at about 8:54 p.m., a private plane, a Beech Baron on its way to St. Thomas, had to return to St. Croix due to an emergency and crashed before it could make it to the runway, resulting in five fatalities.^[25] A preliminary investigation revealed that engine failure caused the crash.^[26] It was also revealed that the pilot operating the aircraft was unqualified to fly multi-engine airplanes.^[27]