Jamaica to help address regional air connectivity problem

Jamaica will have a major role to play in addressing the region’s air transport connectivity issue which has resulted in passengers spending more money on air fare, and too much time in airports and in the air, to get from one island to another.

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett used an appreciation breakfast at the Norman Manley International Airport on Tuesday to share this information with members of the airport community.

“The Caribbean is having an air transportation crisis, and Jamaica is going to have to play a role in enabling the solution of that problem by way of providing the hub-and- spokes arrangements. And Kingston can provide that hub which will enable the transiting from here into the Eastern Caribbean and the other Caribbean countries and in so doing, make air connectivity much easier and seamless,” he disclosed.

“The problem now is that everybody who has to go down to the islands has to go to Miami, basically, and so you overnight in Miami or you have a long layover and that’s very inefficient, not just for travel itself, but for production and economic activities, for everything. So we have to find a way, and so far we are seeing that a number of new airlines are connecting into Santo Domingo, but with backward linkages into various other islands, with the Caribbean,” Bartlett added.

The minister further disclosed that he had taken the initiative to take six regional ministers of tourism to Saudi Arabia a few weeks ago, where he engaged them in the first connectivity summit. Among the top agenda items discussed were how airlines from the Gulf Cooperation Council area can come into the Caribbean, and how the region can look about hub-and-spokes arrangements to allow for the distribution of routes, when they arrive.

The tourism minister was happy to disclose that Jamaica’s tourism earnings are significantly higher than the previous year, with US$3.64 million earned in what he termed a difficult year. He gave credit for this significant achievement to the entire tourism community.

“It was not something that was done by the Ministry of Tourism. It is something that was done by every single player in this industry, and there are so many, because tourism owns nothing. We rely on everybody and everything to make tourism happen, because there is no tourism that stands on its own.”

This is happening at a time when major renovation efforts, long stalled by disruptions in the global supply chain, are set to come on stream. Chief Executive Officer of PAC Kingston Airport Limited, which operates the airport, Fernando Vistrain, explained that the first step in this process has been the replacement of some hard, upright seats in the terminal area with 480 much more comfortable, reclining chairs, fitted with built-in phone-charging ports.

Next on the agenda is the rehabilitation of seven bathrooms used by the public, starting with those in the arrival area about which, he admitted, there have been many complaints.

“We just finished the tender and are in the final arrangements for the contract to be signed, and we hope to start at the end of January,” Vistrain told The Gleaner.

Work is also set to start on replacing the four drum doors leading to the check-in area with sliding doors, also at the end of January. The new doors had long been paid for but were detained by the disruptions in global trade cause by the pandemic.

Another major development set for the Norman Manley International Airport next year is bringing online the second phase of its solar farm, which will result in a significant reduction in its electricity bill. Already, under phase one, there has been a 25-30 per cent reduction and the savings are projected to reach 75 per cent when the project is completed.

“That’s a big thing for us, not only from a business standpoint, but also from an environmental point of view because we are going to reduce the carbon emissions from the airport. That is a global threat,” Vistrain told The Gleaner.