The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

NASSAU Airport Development Company (NAD) executives said yesterday that the launch of 20 automated passport control (APC) kiosks at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) will improve the overall departure experience and generate more passenger spend.

NAD’s chief executive, Vernice Walkine, told Tribune Business that while the Bahamas has done well in welcoming guests, the same could not always be said for their departure experience. 

“The challenge for us in the Bahamas is that we do a good job welcoming people, but we don’t do nearly as good a job saying goodbye,” she said.

“We know that people can be stressed out, getting on their connecting flights and that sort of thing.  A lot of our visitors don’t know what pre-clearance is about and what it means for them until they have to go through it, so the degree to which we can make that process easy and quick is a relief for them.”

The 20 new automated kiosks, Ms Walkine said, will greatly improve the experience of US-bound passengers as they leave Nassau/Paradise Island.

“American, Canadian and ESTA country passport holders now have the ability to scan their documents at the kiosks and confirm travel information in less than 60 seconds, dramatically improving processing times in our facilities,” said Mrs Walkine, adding that the initiative had been driven by a chaotic summer 2012 when LPIA suffered long lines and more than 350 flight delays.

“For us as an airport, it means that we are not only improving the departure experience but it gives travellers more time to spend buying food, drink and going into the shops instead of them lying up so long that by the time they get through the are running to the gate to just get on their flights,” Ms Walkine said.

“That’s a huge win for everyone. For the industry, we give people much better departure experience and their is more dwell time in the food court and the shops, so our spend per passenger will go up. We really believe that.”

Ms Walkine said NAD was looking to improve its traveller experience ranking. “As a part of our efforts to measure how well we are doing against our competitors we currently rank fourth, and we are very proud of that. We want to be number one and we believe that this addition of APC will give visitors an improved experience,” said Ms Walkine.

Craig Richmond,  president and chief executive of Vancouver Airport Authority, said research has shown that the overall customs wait time drops by 40-50 per cent at US airport locations, while passengers using BorderXpress clear the border 89 per cent faster than those using the traditional process.