parrotheaddiver: At least we no longer have to fly from Hou to New Orleans to La Ceiba and overnight (no runway lights on Roatan) and catch the DC3 out the next day and land on a dirt runway. Boy those were the days.[/QUOTE:
Oh, yeah, loads of fun. You are indeed an old fart if you remember those difficult passages. You speak of the mid 80's when the service was provided by the Honduran flag airline, SAHSA, which of course meant "Stay at Home, Stay Alive". The motto: Our Specialty is Lost Baggage.
I was on the last SAHSA flight--- kind of. Me and Mike Minarski from Aspen were standing in Houston (1988?) with our SAHSA tickets the day they went belly up. Mysteriously, and airline called TACA appeared and swept us away with nary a fuss. I really don't recall an experience that easy with TACA since then.
It was during the 90's that I believe Mr. Bill from CCV purchased (with others) some major portions of the runway lighting system for RTB Roatan Airport. Of course, the Honduran mentality prevailed and the lights sat crated for many years before installation.
On the first night of testing, they were just about to turn them on when a fish transport DC3 was lining up on final for a landing in the moonlight. The pilot had to make this landing or the cargo would spoil- and hey- if you squinted real hard you could see a glow on the Western horizon where the sunset was mere hours before. Anyway- there he is at 800 feet and whammo- the lights come on. 'Bout pooped his pants which is no small thing for a DC3 pilot.
Or then there was the summer (1998?) that the construction company that had transported all of it's heavy gear to Roatan had the airport contract. They had the far East end of the runway all dug up, and since it wasn't needed until Saturday, they abandoned the job with a trench in the runway- to go across the island and pave a long driveway for a new resort complex.
Suffice to say, the airport was closed for 3 weeks.
My old pal, Tonio Moore, one time Congressman for the Bay Islands, then sitting as a director on RECO (Roatan Electric Co), the company that produces all of Roatan's electricity with deisel generators. Islands like Tobago have underwater power feeds 35 miles away from Trinidad. Roatan refuses to build an exrtension cord, the Honduran Government prefers campfires for their island treasure.
When RECO turned off the electricity to the Roatan Airport due to non payment, at first no one noticed. As darkness fell on that night, some incoming pilots found issue with this. The solution for many months was to run the lights for the runway, but the terminal remained dark and un-airconditioned. I believe the exit holding areas are now air conditioned to some extent, but that's it. Hey- at least most of the lights are on and the bathrooms are clean and have toilet paper (last week, anyway).
On your entrance, your luggage is screened by x-ray for US meats and cheeses, claimed to be a contaminant, but in reality Honduras is using UN funded, US mandated machines that were designed for gun control. Instead now used to effect a contest with the US over import trade restrictions on the food products.
On your exit, their "TSA" searches every bag for butane lighters, batteries in flashlights and aerosol spray insect repellants, etc. They go through everything, and as in most situations in Central America, the last passenger in the looooong line gets processed just in time to get on the plane.
Sit back, enjoy the ride. Learn to realize just how great we have it on US airlines--- American, United, the TSA are just fine in my book.
I guess I am just going through sticker shock. I did question Liz about waiting a while to book, but she advised against it said you want to make sure you have space. She had also told me that the reason it was cheaper last year was because Sol air came on board and there was a bit of a price war. I can get that. I guess if your the only airline in town.....At least we no longer have to fly from Hou to New Orleans to La Ceiba and overnight (no runway lights on Roatan) and catch the DC3 out the next day and land on a dirt runway. Boy those were the days.
ldman: Yes I am an old "fart" actually old woman fart. Yes my very first saltwater dive trip was to Roatan in 1977 of course I learned to dive at three :lol: I always enjoyed all of the luggage and dive bags piled in the center aisle of the plane and the co-pilot trying to serving us pinapple juice in dixie cups. Ah yes the stories we could tell. Enjoyed yours.
