The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

REPAIRS to the deteriorated runway at North Eleuthera Airport, which drove Western Air to halt flights to the island, should be finished by the end of this week, Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs Clay Sweeting said yesterday.

He said resurfacing was progressing and crews were expected to begin striping the runway.

“We anticipate, if we don’t have too much weather, within this week you should see it completed by the end of the week,” he told reporters before a Cabinet meeting.

He said the newly resurfaced runway should be ready for use by next week if all goes to plan. The runway remains open but closes around 5pm each day so the work can be done.

Western Air has not flown to North Eleuthera since October 2, after it suspended service because uneven and sunken sections of the runway were causing rough take-offs and landings. The airline’s president and chief executive officer, Sherrexcia “Rexy” Rolle, has said its return depends on the repairs.

The suspension came just days before thousands of people were expected to travel to Eleuthera for the Harbour Island Homecoming. Former North Eleuthera MP Rickey Mackey warned at the time that it would “create major havoc here in North Eleuthera”.

Repairs began nearly two weeks ago. Mr Sweeting, MP for Central and South Eleuthera, initially estimated they would take about 12 days, with crews working overnight to limit disruption to flights.

The work involves milling sections of the existing runway and laying new asphalt to deal with potholes and uneven areas found during inspections. Bahamas Striping, the company doing the paving, said earlier this month that the new asphalt would need 30 days to cure before markings meeting Civil Aviation Authority requirements could be applied.

The resurfacing is a temporary fix while plans for a permanent airport development move forward.

Mr Sweeting has said bids for the permanent project have been submitted and are being evaluated before being sent to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for its approval. The project is expected to include a new, longer runway and an apron able to take larger aircraft, which would also serve a planned airport development farther east.

The airport’s condition has been a concern for years, as North Eleuthera is a major gateway for visitors travelling to Harbour Island and nearby communities.

In 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper described conditions at the airport as “completely embarrassing” despite the island’s strong tourism performance. He later disclosed that $55m in financing from the Saudi Fund for Development had not been drawn down because of bureaucratic delays, but said alternative funding had been secured.

At an IDB procurement fair in 2023, the airport infrastructure programme’s project coordinator, Charlene Collie, outlined an estimated $30m project for North Eleuthera, including a new parallel runway, an apron and conversion of the existing runway into a taxiway. She said at the time that the package was expected to be signed that September.