NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Davis Administration is moving to address the state of more than two dozen airports across the country and has announced the March 1 launch of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to engage qualified private sector entities to design, redevelop and maintain them.
Under the PPP Program, the ownership of the airports will be retained by The Government of The Bahamas. However, private partners will be granted a concession and lease for the airports for up to 30 years. Further, there will be an option to invest in the airports either individually or through a bundle portfolio approach.
Among the 14 airports the government is looking to address, four have been designated as Tier I airports. They include the Exuma International Airport, the North Eleuthera International Airport, the Governor’s Harbour International Airport, and the San Salvador International Airport. The Rock Sound International Airport on Eleuthera, the New Bight International Airport on Cat Island, and the Deadman’s Cay International Airport have been designated as Tier II airports and the Staniel Cay Airport, Black Point Airport, Sandy Point International Airport, Treasure Cay Airport, and Congo Town airport have been identified as Tier III airports. The airport redevelopments total more than $500 million.
Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who has ministerial responsibility for Tourism, Investments & Aviation stated: “Investors’ interest in The Bahamas’ Airports Infrastructural Projects is an indication of the global confidence in The Bahamas as a destination, especially after 2022 foreign air arrivals and overall seat capacity soared towards, and in some cases, exceeded the historic pre-pandemic levels. This move affirms the national priority and commitment of The Government to aggressively address the state of The Bahamas airports infrastructure to support ongoing economic development.”
Aviation director Dr Kenneth Romer said: “In June 2021, the Government of The Bahamas initiated a process to identify a portfolio of airports with attractive investment potential and proposed a bundle of airports likely to be structured under a PPP scheme. After a careful review, a determination was made to formally launch Phase I, with the Request for Pre-Qualifications (RFpQ) for the Grand Bahama International Airport on March 28, 2022. This next phase is considered a continuation and expansion of this initiative designed to drive traffic, improve operational efficiency, grow revenue, and enhance the quality of service in the targeted airports.”
The PPP process will commence on 1 March 1 2023 with the issuing of the RFpQ and Project Information Memorandum (PIM) via the Department of Aviation’s website https://doabahamas.com. All interested parties are required to access the documents through the website in order to ensure that they receive all addenda and communication from the Government with respect to this process.
All relevant details and submission instructions will be included in the RFpQ documents. Short-listed parties will be invited to participate in the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage, which is tentatively scheduled to be released in May 2023.
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