Let's Build Gonave, Haiti!

Gonave has a dirt runway that would not be strong enough for larger aircraft to land.  Given that constructing a runway, and terminal could cost several million dollars, it wouldn't be something that would be immediately feasible.  Even a small scale, bare bones airport with a single 7,500 ft runway and a tiny 20,000 sq ft terminal would be at least $50 million.  So what is the alternative? As you know I like to find a cheaper way to do things that actually work.  When I was in Seattle this weekend I saw many seaplanes.  Many of these planes were small Cessna type craft, and not like the larger plane you see above.  Given the unique circumstances at Gonave, having a seaplane that takes off from Miami, or Haiti, makes for a more practical choice.  Funny that the above plane based out of Vancouver, Canada are the colors of the potential Gonave Flag.  I personally would have a yellow sun in the middle of the tail. The above aircraft would be t...

Gonave Transpark I've talked with a few people who built the Kentucky Tranpark in Bowling Green.  This project has brought about 1,300 jobs, with only 4 facilities.  It also has a training facility that helps train staff at the various industrial companies.  The project was to include an airstrip, but that idea was shot down.  The park itself is ever evolving, and actually didn't cost the city a large sum of money.   The park sells land to companies, which in turn will build their facility, and possibly get incentives for locating to the park and holding a specific number of employees.   So would this type of thing work on Gonave?  Consider if the entire island was a Special Administrative Region of Haiti .  This plan would be the start of developing an economic base on Gonave.  Consider the idea of farms as well. I mentioned the transpark idea before, click here. When you consider the contacts I have been getting a...

  Miami!  While Gonave has dirt runway that can only accommodate very small planes, the new Gonave will have a modern runway.  Based on many international destinations, a 2 mile runway is typical in order for an airport to handle very large passenger and cargo planes. So what American City should be on Gonave's short list of Gateway cities?  Without question this should be Miami for many reasons.  Like New York City, Miami has many Haitian nationals and many people of Haitian decent.  So air traffic to Gonave could easily be established due to this, especially if better infrastructure to Haiti were to happen. The close proximity to Haiti/Gonave makes Miami also very attractive as well.  Smaller aircraft can be flown in initially until service levels prove for larger craft.  Also an entrepreneur on Gonave or Haiti could start a small feeder airline that connects Miami to Gonave. Miami is an international city.  With flights...

A multi-modal transpark could work very well on Gonave.  What is a transpark?  A transpark is an industrial park that connects different modes of transportation to ship goods.  Many times these transparks will have office buildings as well. How can Gonave benefit from this?  Well and ideal transpark would be about 500 acres that would connect the entire island with rail and via roadway.  Therefore non-transpark jobs can be disbursed throughout the island.  This benefits the whole island, not just one area.  The transpark would also transport goods via air, so an airport could be built on the border of the transpark.  In addition to the airport would be a seaport.  Again, goods can be brought in and shipped out.  A transpark allows companies to have tremendous flexibility when it comes to logistics.  When you look at an island that lacks key infrastructure, a transpark makes a lot of sense.  Initially the 500 acre...