• Balanced economics, safety in LPIA flight halt
• Operator: ‘Effect really could have been worse’
• No tourism fall-out: ‘Can only pray’ no repeat

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian aviation industry worked feverishly to ensure “we didn’t cut off our nose to spite our face” amid yesterday’s temporary fire-enforced fight suspension at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA).

Anthony Hamilton, president of the Bahamas Association of Air Transport Operators, told Tribune Business that airlines, the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), LPIA’s operator, and all relevant sector stakeholders were in constant communication over the nearby Coral Harbour forest fire throughout the day as they sought to balance “trade and commerce” with health and safety.

Speaking shortly after flights resumed at 1pm, one hour earlier than anticipated following the one-and-a-half hour suspension that began at 11.30am, he acknowledged that the fire’s impact on The Bahamas’ main airlift and aviation cargo gateway “really could have been worse” but praised the industry for managing the fall-out well.

NAD had initially warned that the temporary flight suspension could last until 2pm, but Mr Hamilton later confirmed to this newspaper at around 4.30pm that “flights are still taking off” and “things are still functioning” with the immediate threat to aviation traffic appearing to have eased.

Robert Sands, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association’s (BHTA) president, told Tribune Business that the temporary halt to airlift in and out of New Providence had “little to no impact” on local resorts and other industry operators.

He added, though, that “we can only pray there’s no occurrence of such an event in the future” given the unpredictability of climate change and the difficulty involved in preparing for future events as-yet unknown.

Mr Hamilton, also Southern Air’s director of administration, described yesterday’s aviation industry response as “a process” after NAD warned that “air traffic control (ATC) services at Lynden Pindling International Airport will be suspended from 11.30am to 2pm today due to low visibility resulting from the fire on Coral Harbour Road”.

“Smoke from the fire has also impacted air traffic control officers who manage the airspace for LPIA. During this period, there will be no inbound or outbound flights unless conditions improve,” the LPIA operator added. “Members of the public who are travelling today should anticipate flight delays over the course of the day” due to the back-up, and backlog, of aviation traffic caused by the temporary flight halt.

Flights resumed one hour earlier than anticipated at 1pm, thereby helping to minimise the disruption, and Mr Hamilton said: “There are several meetings being held internally trying to make the best decisions because the smoke is impacting the atmosphere, which is challenged with it, and the flight situation, which is challenged as well.

“The industry, the authorities, the various agencies are collaborating to make sure we get the best decisions out of this. We’re trying to mitigate the impact to commerce and trade; in essence, the impact for the economy. We’re trying to manage it to make the best decisions so that we do not cut off our nose to spite our face.”

Confirming this meant balancing health and safety with economic factors, and ensuring aviation traffic was not halted unnecessarily, Mr Hamilton said the authorities provided regular updates to the airlines and other LPIA stakeholders.

“I think the authorities are doing a pretty good job,” Mr Hamilton said. “There’s a customer service and management situation right now in real time.” This involved the disruption and delays to scheduled commercial flights, and the resulting inconvenience. He added that NAD had indicated LPIA would remain open later into yesterday evening “so flights can come in” and planes end the day in required position.

“Like anything else you pre-plan for these types of thing,” Mr Hamilton said. “In this instance it’s kind of an ad-hoc situation because nobody anticipated a fire, but you plan ahead for disruption and airlines’ contingency plans kicked in when this thing occurred.

“I don’t see the impact as being long-lasting. It’s unfortunate that proximity lends itself to fall-out as far as the airport is concerned. It was not so much the fire; it was the smoke factor that provided major disruption.

“You had smoke impacting the environment such that when you stepped outside the terminal and moved outside the office you could feel where the smoke penetrated. Fortunately, it was not too deep. It could have been worse. It really could have been worse.”

Mr Sands, the BHTA president, told Tribune Business of yesterday’s temporary airlift suspension: “It’s a a most unfortunate incident, and certainly the Government in terms of the fire itself worked as quickly as possible to have it extinguished.

“The suspension was very temporary from 11.30am to 1pm. We are not aware of any impact on business levels as a result of that short period. From that perspective, we’ve been in constant communication with the authorities, who were on top of the matter and responded extremely well. The major issue with this was the health and safety of the workers in the [air traffic control] tower and everything is back to normal.

“The actions put in place reduced the suspension timeframe for air arrivals and departures. I’m not aware if any impact on any of our members’ business levels. It’s a combination of various agencies being on top of the matter and, to some extent, the changing of the winds helped us,” Mr Sands added. “It’s a combination of events that ensured there was little to no impact on business levels to The Bahamas.”

Asked whether the Coral Harbour forest fire should serve as a wake-up call, and if it could have caused a much more damaging impact, Mr Sands replied: “I don’t want to be an alarmist. I think we have to look at the actual course of events and actions taken that resulted in minimal to no disruption to business levels.

“I don’t want to begin to anticipate or suggest what may have happened because it didn’t. We can only pray there’s no occurrence of such an event in the future. We live in a world where climate change is a reality, and we are not aware of what some of the occurrences may be.

“We can be as prepared as possible to address these situations. Until we are confronted with them, we are not able to do anything more than that. From that perspective you begin to contemplate what may have happened, but the fact of the matter is it did not happen. I think that’s key,” the BHTA president continued.

“I think that everybody’s relieved, but we must not take for granted the efforts of the agencies that worked together to achieve the desired result. We must not under-estimate ‘safety first’ before economic benefits. That was the consideration that took place today. It was a safety precaution.”

NAD confirmed the resumption of flights from 1pm yesterday, stating: “Please be advised that air traffic control (ATC) services at Lynden Pindling International Airport have resumed at 1pm today following an interruption to services as a result of the fire on Coral Harbour Road.

“At this time inbound and outbound flight operations are taking place, and it is anticipated operations will continue as long as conditions permit. Members of the public who are travelling today should anticipate flight delays. Persons are encouraged to contact their airlines directly for flight updates.”

Mr Hamilton, speaking to Tribune Business at 4pm, said: “Things are still moving. Things are still in operation. Planes are still taking off. Things are still functioning.”