A new terminal planned for LF Wade International Airport would replace a facility left over from nearly 70 years ago, when it was built by the United States government.

The Island has never had a purpose-built airport terminal: the existing building has been added to a structure put in place in January 1946, when the land was part of the US military base.

Bermuda’s first airport was a facility on Darrell’s Island for flying boats, which closed in 1948, while the base was built as a result of a deal struck with Britain in 1940, during the Second World War.

The operational reach of the US military included all of what is now the Bermuda airport, and the US Government paid all the costs for the 536-acre airport, effectively controlling the Island’s airspace, until 1995, when the baselands were given up. The US spent an estimated $2 billion on the airport alone throughout its occupancy.

That changed when the Bermuda government took over as owner and operator, as charges and landing fees were shared with taxpayers and airport users.

The airport was renamed LF Wade International Airport in 2007, honouring Freddie Wade, the former leader of the Progressive Labour Party whose guidance spirited the Opposition to a first General Election victory in 1998, two years after his death.

A master plan for a new terminal building had been commissioned in 2006, which included a marina and ferry terminal, with an estimated cost of $544 million.

It was conceded that the existing facility had reached its functional end. A new facility would be built north of the existing building, at the western end of the perimeter fence.

In 2010, the Department of Airport Operations (DAO) announced plans to modernise Bermuda’s airspace: at present, Bermuda-based air traffic controllers manage a five-mile area of airspace around the airport.

The rest is operated by Federal Aviation Administration controllers based in New York.

Approval was granted to the DAO in 2013 to work with the aviation giant Boeing to analyse the feasibility of the airspace plan, which would look into Bermuda managing a larger, 40 to 60-mile area of airspace around the Island.

Bermuda and the FAA also have an agreement that covers cost sharing responsibilities for equipment, maintenance and operations.

Another upgrade took place from 2012 to 2013, with enhanced runway lighting and an investment in satellite technology for aircraft landing. The Ferry Reach skyline presented obstacles to planes under tightened global regulations. As a result of the new approach angle, the runway markings and lights had to be moved 587 feet forward.

Bob Richards, the Finance Minister, has publicly observed this year that the airport terminal was being “held together by Band-Aids”, adding, “We need to have an airport that is consistent with the global brand which is Bermuda — a brand we hope denotes high quality and high services.

“If the Government can’t afford to build it, we have to get outside investors and that will require some kind of creativity — probably a public-private partnership of some sort.”