NASSAU, BAHAMAS – As the Ministry of Tourism has dubbed 2018 as “the best year for tourist arrivals,” private airport operators in New Providence are hoping to see some improvement in airport infrastructure, mainly with the construction of a new runway.
The airport operators at Odyssey and Jet Aviation told Eyewitness News Online that they need another runway as multiple airports share one standard runway, including the Lynden Pindling International Airport.
Zelda Evans, an Odyssey Aviation representative said they have been experiencing heavy traffic in recent weeks, and the same is expected until the end of this week, hence another runway would be beneficial.
“Yesterday [last Thursday], and for the last few days we have had an influx of traffic, and to top it off, we had issues with the weather, rain and there were delays leaving the United States to Nassau, so that compiled the delays and congestion at the airport,” Evans explained.
According to Evans, a small airport like Odyssey had almost reached its peak for inbound flights during the busy Christmas period last week.
“We’re having a record year here in the country with general aviation,” she said. “There were quite a number of planes and we had over 60 aircrafts inbound yesterday [last Thursday – Dec 27th]
“We are a 24-hour facility, and during peak periods, we can handle over 80 to 100 aircraft.”
Meanwhile, Evans said despite the delays, the boost in arrivals is always good for the tourism market.
Last week Tourism Minister Dioniso D’Aguilar confirmed that continued delays at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) was the result of increased volume.
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