The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tibunemedia.net

PASSENGERS who find themselves stranded at Lynden Pindling International Airport due to unexpected circumstances may be given a helping hand as part of discussions between Nassau Airport Development (NAD) and hotels.

Dexter Bodie, NAD manager of business development, said the airport is working with hotels to offer a distressed passenger rate.

Speaking at the BHTA annual meeting yesterday Mr Bodie said this year many passengers have been left “stranded” at LPIA due to situations beyond the control of the airport or its airline partners such as extreme weather.

He said NAD has partnered with nine BHTA member hotels to offer a distressed passenger rate to passengers who encounter cancellations not covered by airline policies.

He said: “This year, the airport experienced several situations where passengers became stranded in Nassau due to cancellations for reasons outside of airport and airline control, such as extreme weather. As such, airlines were not able to provide passengers with the needed accommodations

“To address this, NAD, along with the BHTA and airline stakeholders, met on the 27th of November and began working on a stranded passenger policy. This led to the commitment of nine BHTA member hotels to provide a distressed passenger rate that would be available to passengers when cancellations occur that are not covered by airline policy. Efforts to develop this policy are ongoing.”

Mr Bodie said traffic at LPIA has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, with 35,000 passengers travelling through the airport during the Thanksgiving season and a 22 percent increase in 2022’s volume.

He said: “We’re at the peak of our travel season. 35,000 passengers travelled through LPIA during the Thanksgiving holiday, strong travel demand is expected to continue throughout the year.

“Thus far for the calendar year 2023, we’ve consistently reported strong returns of pre-pandemic passenger traffic at LPIA. As of November 30, we have recovered approximately 96 percent of year to date traffic compared to the same period 2019, when compared to the same period of 2022 note an increase of 22 percent in overall traffic.

“This increase in demand for the destination has brought along some challenges for us, however NAD along with the BHTA and other industry partners are addressing this head on.”

He said LPIA is undergoing $1.5m in upgrades with the conversion of the aircraft parking gates from asphalt to concrete which will continue until all gates are upgraded.

He said: “This year, NAD has been working now to convert LPIA’s 11 aircraft parking gates from asphalt to concrete at a cost of $1.5m. This project will continue into 2024 and beyond until all gates are converted.”

Mr Bodie said LPIA is also undergoing a capacity planning exercise to meet travel demand over the next three decades with a “keen” focus on upgrading technology and increasing efficiency.

He said: “Further, NAD has commenced the capacity planning exercise to expand LPIA’s capacity to meet travel demand for the next 20 to 30 years.

“It has been one decade since the full completion of LPIA’s redevelopment - this capacity planning will be comprehensive considering the land side, terminal and airside capacity with a keen focus on incorporating new technology to improve the overall operational efficiency.”

He added that the airport has recently installed almost $1m worth of digital advertising displays in key areas to improve advertising visibility for hotel and industry partners.

He said: “We recognise that many hotel partners use significant advertising at the airport and this year we’re excited to launch our new airport advertising programme.

“RG Media Bahamas Limited, our new airport advertising contractor, has invested nearly $1m in new and modern digital and slide advertising installations. If you’ve travelled recently, you would have seen the eye-catching digital screens in key areas like immigration hall and the baggage claim area.”