Airport expansion: We need to focus on 'getting those overnight tourists'- Clive Smith
The first consultation meeting on the Business Case for the airport's expansion was held At Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, when the Director of Special Projects Mr Clive Smith explained the purpose of the airport expansion project.
VI is outgrowing current facilities
“We are outgrowing our current facilities...the apron, the terminal,” he said, “In addition to that we want to extend the runway, we want to really focus on the runway to start growing the economy [and] getting those overnight tourists.”
Mr Smith's comments come as members of the public have been calling for the government to do more to increase overnight guests.
Meanwhile, Mr Smith said the runway extension is the main priority and works to the terminal building will commence when increased traffic is seen in the Territory.
Objectives
Mr Smith explained the objectives of the airport expansion project which he said included to:
- Enable, diversify resilient growing and international competitive economy
- Improve air access experience and efficiency by reducing the number of layovers from key markets
- Improve air access to the Territory including air cargo capacity
- Support national security by ensuring the safety and security of the travelling public through compliance to recognised international standards
- Minimise environmental impact through developing an airport in a manner that is compliant with environmental assessments and regulations
Public input necessary
Mr Smith added that there are currently five airport expansion options and one will be selected following the public consultations.
The five options are:
- Keep what is currently there and do nothing
- Do the minimum including the apron and terminal extension
- Extend the runway to 6300 feet allowing for flights to and from Miami and maybe Charlotte
- Extend the runway to 6500 feet
- Extend the runway to 7000 feet allowing for flights to and from as far as Toronto, Canada
The purpose of these public consultations he said is to get an understanding of the “public’s feelings” towards the project. The information he explained will be “fed into a matrix to help us to select an option as we move forward”.
Public consultations continue today, November 27, 2024, at 6:00 PM at Francis Lettsome Primary School in East End.
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18 Responses to “Airport expansion: We need to focus on 'getting those overnight tourists'- Clive Smith”
Is he lying when he says "The purpose of these public consultations he said is to get an understanding of the “public’s feelings” towards the project. The information he explained will be “fed into a matrix to help us to select an option as we move forward”. or has he been mislead.
One of the options is too do nothing. With that option we can focus our efforts on getting an operational set of islands that can handle not only it's residents needs but also those of visitors.
In a few years we can then look at other options.
Has Mr Smith been mislead and lied to like the rest of us and these meetings are a complete waste of time because whether we like it or not we will have Vybz, Music Concerts, a new Deputy Premier, a fast track to independence and a new airport full of corrupt possibilities such as were available to Andrew Fahie and friends the last time we did an upgrade.
Moreover, the airline industry is a razor-thin profit margin , capital intensive, safety-intensive, etc, business. Passenger Load Factor (PLF), Available Seat Mile(ASM) are two vital airline economics metrics. Every flight taking off and landing incur a ‘fixed’ cost, which for passenger lines , is covered by paying passengers. An airline will not start or continue a route if the PLF is not covering the fix cost, profit, etc. A high PLF typically indicates profitability , enabling the fix cost to be spread more evenly passengers, etc..
Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport (TBLIA) may need to be extended to improve airlift, to enhance tourism growth and sustainably. The airlift improvements require improvements to a) air side, b) land side, and) apron/ramp. Extending the runway may need space for a) undershooting , b) over runs, and c) veering.
Moreover, it costs to bring a tourist to the VI. What is the cost per capita to bring a tourist to the VI? Cruise passengers vastly outnumber over night visitors. However , cruise passengers on average spend approximately $70-80 per day compared to $500-600 per day on average by overnight visitors. In extending TBLIA, the utility, value, cost v. benefit, environmental impacts, etc must be considered. In the end, it is cost v. benefit analysis.