The $3.5 million re-paving of the airport runway will begin next month after the Development Application Board approved plans last week.

Runway specialists the Dexter Company are set to start work on March 12 and finish by May 1 said Airport general manager James Howes.

He said: “We want it done in time for peak summer travel.”

He said the 1.5 million square-foot runway dated back to World War Two but had been resurfaced about ten years ago.

Mr. Howes said: “This will be more substantial. The company is highly qualified in surfacing runways.

“You need a special asphalt mix which is much harder than used for highways.”

Work will be done between 11 p.m and 7 a.m. so would not disrupt the traditional flight schedule said Mr. Howes.