The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Deputy Prime Minister yesterday voiced optimism that the ground- breaking for Grand Bahama International Airport’s (GBIA) redevelopment will take place in the 2023 rst quarter once the Government approves its new operator.

Chester Cooper, also the minister for tourism, investments and aviation, said the preferred development and operating partner will be presented to the Davis Cabinet within the next two weeks for its former approval with the selection process at the “stage of completion”.

“We are delighted that we are going to have a strong management partner. We are mandating that the con- struction is completed by January 2025. This is going to work absolute wonders for the economy of Grand Bahama to attract new investments to the island,” he told media yesterday.

That January 2025 date is the target for construction completion of the airport’s domestic and US terminals. “We hope that we will see the return of pre-clearance as a result of these two ter- minals,” Mr Cooper added.

The Government is employing the same model to facilitate Grand Bahama International Airport’s redevelopment as is still being employed for Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) in Nassau. While the Government retains ownership of the assets and real estate, it leases them long-term to an private sector operating/ management company, in that case Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) and its partner, Vantage.

It is the private sector partner that will be charged with raising the financing for redeveloping Grand Bahama International

Airport, then subsequently managing the facility under a long-term lease concession. The Government, though, will continue to own the asset via the Grand Bahama Airport Development Company. There have been suggestions that Ireland’s Dublin Airport Authority is among the frontrunners for the Grand Bahama deal.

Grand Bahama International Airport has yet to recover from being devastated by Hurricane Dorian’s Category Five storm surge and winds in September 2019. While still able to receive commercial and private aviation traffic, it has also lost its US pre-clearance facilities. Their restoration, and that of the wider airport given its status as Grand Bahama’s prime stopover visitor gateway, is seen as critical to facilitating the Grand Lucayan resort’s sale.

Mr Cooper, meanwhile, said the Government will also set out a schedule for redeveloping other Family Island airports. He indicated that announcements on Long Island and Cat Island airports will come soon. “I want to be very deliberate when I talk about timeframes. But I can tell you that I’ve given you all of the priority airports on the list of all of the aggressive infrastructural, aviation development we are going to do,” he said.

The deputy prime minister pledged that their redevelopment will not take as long as Great Harbour Cay Airport in the Berry Islands, which took more than three years to complete after construction was interrupted by COVID-19.

He added: “We are going to build the airport to suit the demands and culture of the islands where they operate. So we don’t have a one size fits all model. But we are going to ensure that we do what’s in the best interests of the people of the islands.”