Plane tail removed from NMIA roundabout
Published:Friday | December 29, 2023 | 12:08 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
The iconic Air Jamaica aircraft tail that greeted travellers at the roundabout leading to the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston has been removed and is to be exhibited in a museum.
Its removal is part of the renovation and expansion of the airport and will be replaced by a sign welcoming travellers to Kingston and to the airport.
President and CEO of Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) Audley Deidrick told The Gleaner that the action was taken by PAC Kingston Airport Limited, operators of the NMIA.
“The operators of the airport have removed the plane tail to facilitate a redesign and construction of the facilities at the roundabout,” he said.
He added that the plane tail would not be a feature of the new design and that it is in storage at the NMIA.
But stating that her ministry recognises the importance of the plane tail as part of Jamaica’s material culture and “an object that has important significance for our people”, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange told The Gleaner that she had instructed the Jamaica National Heritage Trust to put together a condition report on the tail with the aim of having it restored.
“It had suffered from rusting due to its proximity to the sea and from weathering. Eventually, the tail will be removed to a location where generations of Jamaicans can view it,” she said.
However, she did not provide a timeline of when this would occur.
The minister explained that Air Jamaica, which was established in 1968, was an integral part of Jamaica’s culture. During the period of its operation, it won several awards, including the World Travel Award for being the Caribbean’s leading airline from 1997 to 2009.
“Many Jamaicans’ first travel experience was on Air Jamaica, and a generation still recalls going to the airport’s waving gallery to welcome family and friends as an important cultural tradition. Air Jamaica was an important part of that tradition,” she said.
She noted that the ministry has explored “the feasibility of several sites” for the relocation of the tail, but its size and the logistics involved in its transportation would all have to be taken into consideration in deciding on its final destination for exhibition.
“I am happy to report that the restored tail will be wrapped with the original Air Jamaica Lovebird logo and will be placed in a location accessible for all to see free of charge,” she said.
SCEPTICAL ABOUT PLANS
But Opposition Spokesman on Transport Mikael Phillips is sceptical about plans to have the tail in a museum exhibit.
“A museum to do what?” he asked. “We’ve been waiting for how many years the proposal of a museum dealing with the reggae music and the Jamaican culture, so for me it’s just another promise that we’re not sure when that will be delivered,” he said.
He is also not too keen on the sign being replaced with a welcome sign.
“That, for me, is too commercialised You have billboards around there. That is enough commercial. The welcome could go somewhere else on the airport property,” he said. But something that depicts the history of air travelling itself and the city of Kingston ... once the round-a-bout is remaining that something that depicts our culture goes back there. But not something that is not going to show what the history of our country and the development of the airport itself and the importance of the Norman Manley airport to the city of Kingston and Jamaica on a whole.”
PAC Kingston Airport Limited, a subsidiary of Mexico-based Pacific Airport Group, started managing the airport under a 30-year agreement in October 2018.
The airport is currently undergoing a capital expansion programme, originally billed at US$213 million.
Fernando Vistrain Lorence, CEO of PAC Kingston Airport Limited, earlier this year outlined that in addition to the runaway extension, other projects will also be executed.