The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government has been urged by a senior Bahamian airline executive to avoid the “cookie cutter” approach to the planned $160 million overhaul of Family Island airports.

Captain Randy Butler, Sky Bahamas president, acknowledged that these facilities needed “a lot of tender loving care” to ensure all inhabited Bahamian islands fulfilled their economic potential.

Yet he warned that the proposed infrastructure upgrades could not be done on a ‘one size fits all’ basis, and that careful assessments must be made of each island’s needs to ensure their airports matched.

And, while backing the Government’s public-private partnership (PPP) approach to financing the necessary airport infrastructure upgrades, Captain Butler said the fine details would be critical to attracting investors.

Sky Bahamas operates numerous Family Island routes, and Captain Butler cited Cat Island as a prime example of terminal and runway facilities that needed upgrading if its people were to benefit from increased trade and tourism.

“For me, I’ll be happy to see any growth in the Out Islands,” he told Tribune Business. “The airport is the first impression, the front room to your town. If people get a good experience in your living room, they’ll think the experience in your island, your town will be good.”

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) last week warned that the Family Islands will be unable to capitalise on a projected 2.4 per cent annual growth rate in air passengers over the next 17 years unless their airports are brought to “the highest possible” standards.

It added that these islands cannot improve their tourism and economic competitiveness without a major overhaul of their 28 airports, which have “lacked investment for some time”.

Captain Butler said efforts to address the deficiencies at airports in islands such as Cat Island and Andros were “much-needed”. The weaknesses included pot-holed runways and lighting systems that were poorly-maintained, and inadequate to support night flying.

A $35 million IDB-financed project, the ‘Airport Infrastructure Programme’, aims to address these problems by identifying the Family Island airports best-suited to a replication of the ‘NAD model’.

This has overseen the transformation of Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) via a $409.5 million public-private partnership (PPP).

Under this model, the Government has retained 100 per cent ownership of LPIA and all its assets, while handing over the airport’s daily operations and management to Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD), part of Vantage Airport Group.

The IDB-financed project will assess 13 Family Island airports to determine whether they are suitable for a NAD-type PPP, and also develop the best structure for agreements between the Government and the private sector relating to their ownership and financing.

Captain Butler, though, warned the Government to ensure that the consultants hired to carry out this assessment “don’t go with a cookie cutter and do the same thing with all the airports”.

He added: “The Family Island airports need a lot of tender, loving care, but it has to be planned. Don’t just go and do it.

“Look at the whole community. The runway may be nice, the airport may be nice, but if the main road is badly pot-holed and the clinic has no medicine.......”

Captain Butler said the consultants hired for the IDB project needed to conduct “needs assessments” of every Family Island and its airport facilities, determine current and future demand, and then decide what upgrades were necessary.

Taking Andros as an example, Captain Butler said most visitors came for fishing, snorkelling and diving on its reefs, and the ecology and environment.

This customer base, he added, would influence both the size of any upgraded airport, how it was built and the type of construction materials used.

“I was in Crooked Island, and the folks wanted us to come there, but the accommodation is not sufficient,” Captain Butler said, adding that the solution would require involvement from the likes of Ministry of Tourism and the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB).

“I do believe it [the PPP structure] could work, but I think you have to start with the planning and see where it goes, and look at strategic development,” Captain Butler said.

“Who are going to be the private people on the other side? Is it the hotels on the island that are going to partner with the Government? Who’s going to be allowed to do that? What are the criteria for PPP participation?”

He also queried who would have responsibility, and overall charge, for airport functions such as security and fire crash rescue under a PPP-type arrangement.

The bulk of the IDB loan, some $33 million, will be spent on financing the Government’s share of the investment required to upgrade the airports suitable for PPPs.

“The 28 Family Island airports in the Bahamas have been in need of investment for some time and require a wide range of aviation and infrastructure upgrades to improve their regional and global integration,” the IDB report, revealed by Tribune Business, said.

“The airports require maintenance and improvements in operating conditions, and also protection of the airside and its operation protected zones.”

The IDB report continued: “It has been projected that in the next 20 years, the passenger demands on the Family Island airports would increase by 2.4 per cent annually to reach 1.7 million passengers by 2033.

“For the Family Islands to capitalise on this opportunity, and to have a strong market presence in a very competitive Caribbean tourist industry, it is crucial that the island gateway airports offer the highest possible level of safety and quality of aviation services.”

A previous report by the Canadian consultants, Stantec, estimated that a collective $160 million investment was required to bring all main 28 Family Island airports into line with international regulatory standards and best practices.

Stantec’s report divided the Family Island airports into Tier 1, 2 and 3 facilities, based on their relative importance, level of aircraft activity and passenger volumes.

The Marsh Harbour, Georgetown (Exuma), North Eleuthera, San Salvador, Bimini and Governor’s Harbour airports were placed into the Tier 1 category.

And the Rock Sound (Eleuthera), Deadman’s Cay (Long Island), New Bight (Cat Island), Fresh Creek (Andros), Matthew Town, Great Harbour Cay (Berry Islands) and San Andros all found themselves in Tier 2.

These 13 will now be assessed by a consultancy firm hired under the IDB project to determine whether they may be suitable for a PPP ownership/operation model, and attractive enough for private sector capital to invest in the infrastructure upgrades.