The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) reduced its energy consumption by just under 15 per cent during its past financial year, as it moves to become “a truly first class facility”.

Addressing a Town Hall meeting last night, Stewart Steeves, the president and chief executive of LPIA operator, the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), said: “We’ve already realised a substantial reduction in energy consumption of just under 15 per cent.”

NAD believes these benefits will flow to its bottom line, with LPIA now incorporating deep water wells, plus large overhangs and walls made from 50 per cent glass to maximise light/minimise heat.

In its annual report for the year to end-June 30, 2012, NAD disclosed that long-term debt had increased by 40 per cent year-over-year to $445.4 million, compared to $318 million the year before, largely due to the $135 million financing round that occurred during the period.

Its retained earnings also dropped by 19.6 per cent year-over-year to $25.4 million, compared to $31.6 million, as NAD covered the $6.172 million net loss incurred during the year from its own resources.

LPIA’s customer satisfaction scores remained consistent at four out of five, while Mr Steeves said $85 million worth of construction contracts had been awarded to-date to Bahamian firms on the $409.5 million expansion project.

The NAD chief executive last night committed to investing $2 million in purchasing Bahamian artwork for display at the airport, with 50 per cent of that sum coming from its operating partner, Vantage Airport Group.

And he acknowledged that NAD was “very disturbed” after passengers on a Virgin Airline flight were left on the tarmac at LPIA, in the plane, for 10 hours earlier this year.

Responding after the situation was raised by a taxi driver, Mr Steeves said responsibility for the situation ultimately lay with the airline, not NAD.

Noting that Virgin did not fly to Nassau, and had been diverted to this destination, Mr Steeves said the airline did not have any ground support crew in this destination.

He added that it was Virgin’s decision “to maintain the passengers on the aircraft as long as they did”, in the hope that it would be able to take off again soon.

Mr Steeves said that was a decision NAD did not support, and made this clear to Virgin during the incident, as the “rolling delay went on and on” in terms of the plane getting off the ground.

Mr Steeves also emphasised the importance of maintenance at LPIA, disclosing that NAD wanted to get non-routine episodes of equipment going ‘offline’ “as close to zero as possible”.

Any repairs to LPIA, he added, had to blend in with the airport and be as seamless as possible.

“The old facility showed a 50-year history of that behaviour, where things had been tacked on and removed, and it looked scarred,” Mr Steeves said.