By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

WITH Lynden Pindling International Airport experiencing heavy traffic this holiday period, an airport representative said they are satisfied immigration officials have the manpower to process passengers quickly and safely disperse crowds.

The Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) was contacted for comment after a photo circulated on social media showed people densely packed in a section of the airport.

Jan Knowles, NAD’s vice president of marketing and communications, confirmed the photo was taken at LPIA’s immigration hall, but could not say if it was a recent photo. The people in the photo were wearing masks, but were crammed closely together.

“During exceptionally busy travel periods, with multiple flights arriving at the same time, the immigration hall at LPIA and at other airports around the world could become quite crowded, particularly if flights arrive before or after their scheduled time of arrival,” she told The Tribune.

“In such cases, immigration officials typically seek to process passengers within the hall quickly (within 30-40 minutes) and they (immigration) have had the required manpower in place to ensure this happens quickly so the crowds are safely dispersed. We have been pleased with how operations went over the past weekend and to date this week. The airport community is working collaboratively to welcome thousands of arriving passengers each day.”

She added: “Like other airports around the world, LPIA is experiencing heavier traffic due to the traditionally busy holiday season and persons should anticipate lines when travelling, be patient, wear masks (double masking is recommended during travel) and arrive early (at least three hours ahead of your departure time for US flights) to ensure enough time for processing.”

It was previously reported in Tribune Business that NAD was expected to handle over 6,000 passengers this past weekend, a mark that had not been met in many months.

Earlier this week, Ms Knowles said while there were some cancellations the airport remained in the 6,000-passenger range as LPIA was “the busiest it has been in quite some time”.

“We anticipate travel will be busy throughout the holidays and into the New Year and are grateful for the recovery of our business at this time. We are cautiously optimistic in the face of the new virus variant that appears to be gaining traction in some of our source markets. We have not seen any major cancellations in this regard but we continue to monitor this closely,” she said earlier.