PAC Kingston to double spend on NMIA projects
Published:Wednesday | December 4, 2024 | 12:07 AM
PAC Kingston Airport Limited, the operator of Norman Manley International Airport, NMIA, plans to double its investment in capital projects in 2025.
“We expect to spend US$37 million this year and US$75 million next year,” said Sitara English-Byfield, CEO of PAC Kingston, also referred to as PACKAL.
The expenditure by PACKAL could result in added costs for passengers.
“But not significantly,” English-Byfield said at at an airport forum in New Kingston.
PAC Kingston is owned by the Pacific Airport Group of Mexico, which operates 12 airports in its home country and two in Jamaica under concession from the Airports Authority of Jamaica.
The projects at NMIA aim to improve the airport’s facilities but also its passenger-satisfaction ranking. In the latest quarterly passenger survey across 70 airports, NMIA ranked close to last.
“We strongly believe that the failure of the chiller and tiling works were two of the main factors that led to the low score for the quarter. This was the lowest ranking we have seen,” said Byfield. “But the passengers have spoken.”
While total passenger numbers are flat year-on-year, there was an 8.0 per cent increase in passenger arrivals in October compared to the same month last year. The rise in arrivals was attributed to the resumption of an early morning flight from JetBlue, which had temporarily been halted during the repaving of the runway, which took place at night.
English-Byfield expects passenger arrivals to end the year flat or just one per cent higher year-on-year.
“In the ranking of all airports for overall experience, NMIA ranked 72 out of 76 airports,” said Clayton Mitchell, the environment and quality manager at PAC Kingston. “We are all responsible, and we are doing our best to increase and boost these scores, and we do see where improvements will be made for the upcoming quarter, but all stakeholders play a key role in improving the overall satisfaction of the airport,” Mitchell said.
Major projects either planned or under way include the RESA, or runway end safety area, which will add some 300 metres of runway space at a cost of US$66 million. It is currently in the design phase, with construction slated for April 2025 through to 2027.
The repaving of the apron replacement where the planes are parked is estimated to be a US$53-million job, with Mexican construction giant Cemex as the contractor. That project will repave 11,000 square metres and is projected to last 16 months, but there wasn’t a definitive timeline for completion.
PACKAL will also spend: US$10 million of rehabilitation of the taxi-way, a project currently in its design phase; and US$6.8 million to develop 3MW of additional solar power and storage, after adding 2.8 megawatts recently, with Salt Energy as the contractor.
The airport operator will upgrade the baggage-handling system for US$5 million to include new X-ray machines and conveyor belts, by April 2025; finish the upgrading of all restrooms at US$4 million, a job that began last July, with completion expected in March 2025; and add a wastewater treatment plant at US$2 million, with completion expected in May 2026.
English-Byfield also unveiled projects that had not yet been priced, including the replacement of escalators and elevators as well as the the expansion and renovation of the departure lounge.