Falkland Islands' Mount Pleasant Complex sees £7m runway refurb completed

The Falkland Islands has seen a project, worth nearly £7m, to refurbish the runways and taxiways at the Mount Pleasant Complex (MPC) airfield completed.

Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force personnel are all stationed at the Mount Pleasant Complex, playing a key role in the security of the Falkland Islands.

The multi-million-pound project, undertaken by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, included repainting runway and taxiway markings in reflective paint and replacing airfield signage.

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It also included coating the runway asphalt with a layer of bitumen – extending the life of the treated surfaces until they can be fully re-laid.

The project team worked at night to coat the runway, liaising closely with MPC staff to ensure disruption was avoided.

All of the work was planned to ensure there was no impact on airfield operations and flights were able to continue as scheduled throughout the project.

This was particularly important as MPC is used for the airbridge flights to and from the UK, for LATAM flights connecting the Falkland Islands to South America and by the Falkland Island Government Air Service (FIGAS) connecting MPC with the outlying islands of the Falklands.

Robert Handford, Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) project manager, said he was "very pleased to have completed this important work... two weeks ahead of schedule and within budget".

"As with many large infrastructure projects in the Falkland Islands, we had to transport the necessary equipment by air or container ship, which makes the project more complicated than it would be in the UK and means the work has to be even more carefully planned which must be done well in advance," he said.

"This work has improved the runway infrastructure and extended the life of the runway surface until it can be fully resurfaced in due course."

The £6.96m project was awarded to Mitie in June 2022 before being undertaken by sub-contractor Gatwick Construction, with work commencing at the end of January. 

Brian Talbot, managing director, Central Government & Defence, Mitie, said: "We are proud of our work to refurbish the site's runway, extending its lifespan for years to come.

"The prompt completion of this project is testament to our strong and long-standing partnership with DIO in the Falklands," he said.