Impeccable record of attendance! Deryek Trotman, who has had ten years perfect attendance, was pleased to receive his award from Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner.
Airport upgrade still on the cards
Plans remain on stream to embark on a multimillion-dollar upgrade of the Grantley Adams International Airport.
That’s according to Neville Boxhill, Chief Executive Officer of the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) Inc., who has told The Barbados Advocate that such work is expected to commence in approximately two years’ time. He made the disclosure during a reception held after the GAIA’s awards ceremony, which took place at the airport on Friday evening.
While not giving an exhaustive list of the work that is expected, he revealed that jet bridges, also known as air bridges, are slated to be an aspect of that work. Back at the end of 2016, Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Sealy, had said that the improvement and modernisation of the facilities at the island’s lone airport was expected to cost over US$100 million.
An upbeat Boxhill, noting that GAIA is excited about undertaking the upgrades, revealed that they are positioning the company to seek the financing to carry out the various upgrades that fall within the project. That work, the CEO explained, is part of the efforts that will be made to bring GAIA up to a “standard that everybody would agree is what we would want for Barbados”.
“For example, right now we have four gates which are internal, so to speak, we are going to expand that to five gates. There will be five gates with air bridges and there will be other infrastructural work intended to expand the number of shops we have, and the number of food concessionaires that we have. Also we will be enclosing the arrivals courtyard, which is just before you go into Immigration. We are going to be enclosing that area and air-conditioning it, in order to provide a more pleasant experience for the passengers,” he stated.
Earlier during the awards ceremony, he indicated that the airport’s management is also seeking out new strategic partnerships to help bring new projects on board to improve the facility’s revenue earning potential.
“…There are a number of new opportunities we are seeking to enter into with various partners, giving proper respect of course to all serious entrepreneurs to improve the revenue position; but also to improve the overall position of GAIA Inc. both as an international airport and as a regional hub within the Eastern Caribbean.”
The airport’s top executive’s comments came as he made it clear that management’s goal is to be the best airport within the Eastern Caribbean. To that end, he gave the assurance that every effort is being made to work towards that goal. (JRT)