Vanterpool backs Anegada airport upgrade but questions hub-and-spoke model

Mark H. Vanterpool, leader of the People's Leadership Movement, says he backs the idea of upgrading Anegada's airport, but he has reservations about schemes that would funnel the bulk of arriving international passengers through the northern island and then disperse them by air or sea to Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke and other parts of the territory.

During an appearance on the Talking Points radio programme on Monday, September 28, 2026, Vanterpool acknowledged his support for the project in principle. "I have to admit, I am a supporter of Anegada having a very nice and better airport," he said.

Yet he expressed scepticism about whether such a transfer-hub arrangement could function in practice. "I don't think I have been able to accept the majority of the passengers who will come into the BVI and then come to Anegada and then be transferred to the BVI," Vanterpool explained, noting that he remained willing to consider the idea if someone could lay out a convincing operational case.

Beyond logistics, Vanterpool raised a second concern: safeguarding at least one or two of the territory's islands from rapid development. He cautioned that a major airport facility on Anegada could spur hotel construction, property transactions, and building projects that would fundamentally reshape the island's character.

"A major airport in Anegada, that means that Anegada as the last beautiful bastion in the Caribbean," he said. Anegada, the territory's northernmost and second-largest island by land area, is distinguished by its flat terrain, coral-and-limestone geology, extensive reef systems, mangrove forests, and stretches of largely untouched shoreline.

For Vanterpool, preserving that identity matters to the territory's long-term appeal as a destination, and he contended that planners must balance near-term economic gains against potential environmental and reputational costs.

The remarks come as the British Virgin Islands grapples with an ongoing debate about airport infrastructure. Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport on Beef Island near Tortola, the territory's primary international hub, has faced multiple proposals over time to lengthen its runway and boost passenger capacity.