Island airport named after Fleming

The author of the James Bond novels has been honoured by having an international airport for private jets named after him.

Ian Fleming International Airport, formerly named the Boscobel Aerodrome, in Jamaica

It is located near the coast town of Orcabessa at a wealthy resort owned by the founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, and will also be used for some commercial international flights. Many other flights to the Caribbean are available from both Stansted Airport and Luton Airport.

Lucy Fleming, the author’s niece, attended the opening ceremony and said her uncle would have been thrilled at the fact he has an airport named after him.

“He adored Jamaica and found so much inspiration and relaxation here. So I tell you something, to have this accolade of having an airport named after him here I know would have been a great honour for him,” Ms Fleming said.

“Honestly, I don’t think he would have written those books without Jamaica.”

Fleming, himself a British intelligence agent, first visited the island in 1942. He returned and bought a property he dubbed GoldenEye four years later, in the dying days of the British Empire. At the time, Jamaica’s north shore was overrun by rich British families and US celebrities like Errol Flynn.

The author wrote Casino Royale at GoldenEye, the first offering in a series which is still going strong. He named his spy after a US ornithologist who wrote ‘Birds Of The West Indies’. Fleming died in 1964.

Several 007 movies, such as Live And Let Die and Dr No, were filmed near Fleming’s Jamaica estate.

Copyright Press Association 2011