By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas “is uniquely positioned to become a regional leader” in sustainable airport development through putting 14 such facilities out to public-private partnership (PPP) bids, a senior tourism official asserted yesterday.

Dr Kenneth Romer, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general and acting aviation director, told a Prime Minister’s Office media briefing that efforts to transform airlift connectivity, infrastructure capacity and the visitor experience through attracting private sector capital and management to 14 Family Island airports will have a heavy focus on resilience and sustainability post-Hurricane Dorian.

Disclosing that there will be “shovels in the ground” at Cat Island’s New Bight airport, with a ground breaking to be held “very shortly” on March 23 and a “proposed date” for completion on the $18m project in 2024, he produced renderings of the remodelled facility.

“It could become a model for sustainable airports,” Dr Romer said. “There are certain components in these airports that speak about sustainability. There are some indigenous attributes, things that speak to culture and a sense of place. We believe, with respect to sustainability, The Bahamas is uniquely positioned to become the regional leader when it comes to sustainability.”

The Ministry of Tourism, Aviation and Investments is estimating that a collective $263m investment will be required to turn the 14 selected airports into hubs of a size and standard appropriate for their location. Exuma and North Eleuthera are projected to require the greatest capital spend, at around $65m each, with Governor’s Harbour, Rock Sound, New Bight and Deadman’s Cay (Long Island) all pegged at around $18m apiece.

San Salvador was projected to carry a $15m price tag, with the quartet of Marsh Harbour, Sandy Point, Treasure Cay and Congo Town in Andros all projected to need a $10m investment. The smaller aviation gateways in the Exuma cays - Staniel Cay, Fowl Cay and Black Point, were each pegged at $2m.

Dr Romer said the Government had little choice but to seek private sector partners to finance and manage these upgrades via 30-year lease concessions, with the Airport Authority still owning the airport real estate, given the need to bring critical infrastructure up to international standard and meet ever-growing visitor and resident demand.

“The reality is that the airports must be developed to ensure they comply with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) standards, to ensure that they are lending themselves to good experiences for both international and domestic travellers,” he said.

“The facilities no longer meet the current and growing demands of airlift and, of course, traffic growth is constrained by capacity. We’re [the Ministry of Tourism] going out there speaking about attracting additional airlift, but the airlines are constantly speaking about the ability of these airports to handle capacity.”

Stating that it was the Government’s goal for the 14 airports to be operated as “profit centres”, Dr Romer said the Government was open to “bundling” those that are profitable with some which are not to make them attractive to investors and ensure a return on investment can be generated.

Focusing on Exuma’s main airport, where construction work is already underway, he added: “Exuma has a significant amount of traffic and investment potential. This is going to be a wonder and a beauty. We are looking at scalability, we are looking at sustainability, we are looking at business potential to generate revenue and attracting new airlift.

“There are consistent talks with legacy international and new carriers about trying to add airlift to Exuma. But, again, the attraction is constrained by capacity. We just don’t have sufficient room at the airport to continue adding airlines into Exuma. When we brought in American [Airlines] jet service last year, 130 passengers, we had to go in and put additional chairs in the terminal.

“We had to construct a tend on the outside just for one flight. If we had Delta, if we had American, if we had Air Canada on the same day In Exuma, can you imagine what the exposure would be for our passengers.”

Dr Romer added that “we are under tremendous pressure in North Eleuthera” with passengers having to queue outside in the sun or rain to clear Customs. Describing it as “one of the busiest airports in The Bahamas”, he said its $65m overhaul will facilitate further route development while “a significant amount of investment is targeted” at the area.