Air travel still way down, but hope resides in winter
Published:Wednesday | December 16, 2020 | 12:07 AM
The volume of airline passengers entering Jamaica fell by three-quarters in the month of November at both major airports, but industry experts are expecting a lot better outcome this month, it being the start of the peak tourist season.
The winter season kicked off officially on Tuesday, December 15, and runs to April.
It’s being predicted that the pandemic will erase one-third of the business seen last year during the peak season, according to information released by Pacific Airport Group, or GAP, the Mexican company which controls Jamaica’s main airports, located in Kingston and Montego Bay, as well as another 12 in its home country.
Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston recorded a dip in passenger movement by 70 per cent last month, inclusive of international and cross-country traffic, from 133,200 in 2019 to 39,500. Total passengers travelling through the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay dipped by 75 per cent to 87,800 in November from 348,200 in November 2019.
Over the 11 months of the year that have elapsed, the decline is less steep at two-thirds. That’s because total passengers were higher in January and February, just prior to the onset of the pandemic, which slashed global travel.
The information from GAP shows that the recovery in Jamaica lags that of its other airports in the group. Specifically, arrivals in Jamaica are down by three-quarters in November and two-thirds year to date, but on average, they are down by one-third across the group’s 14 airports in November and 45 per cent year to date.
Earlier this month, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett announced that Jamaica secured 860,000 airline seats for the winter tourist season. He expects the number of arrivals to be within a range of 400,000 to 500,000 passengers over the season. Those number imply that the fall-off in air travel is expected to be around 50 per cent.
During the 2019 season, air passenger volumes over the five months totalled 865,000 – 280,000 passengers in December; 227,000 in January; 235,000 in February; 123,000 in March; and nil in April due to the curtailment of travel under the pandemic.
The operators of Jamaica’s largest airport, Sangster International Airport, expects visitor arrivals to return to between 50 and 75 per cent of 2019 levels by 2021. Sangster International is run by GAP subsidiary MBJ Airports Limited.
Jamaica operates three international airports, the third being an upgraded aerodrome called the Ian Flemming Airport. That airport offers a runway long enough for small jets but not most passenger aircraft. Data wasn’t immediately available for that airport.