Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (PAC) has renegotiated its concession agreement with the Government of Jamaica concerning the management of the country’s two major airports.

In a press release, the Mexico-based company shared that it “signed amendments to the concession agreement with the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) associated with the Montego Bay and Kingston Airports, derived from the effects suffered by the concessionaires during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In the case of the Sangster International Airport, which is managed by PAC’s subsidiary MBJ Airports Limited, the company has renegotiated the tenure of the facility’s management, until March 2034.

“This represents one additional year to the original concession period,” PAC explained.

According to AAJ chairman Mark Hart, the airport concessionaire had negotiated a 30-year agreement to manage SIA. However, the company suffered revenue losses during the coronavirus period when international travel was restricted.  

“So the concession agreement had a force majeure clause in there which gave the concessionaire the option to request an extension of one year, and we basically granted that,” he explained to Our Today.

Hart added that it was also “important” to grant the extension to PAC since it had been investing in the expansion of the departure area. This has increased the processing capacity of the airport’s immigration and security sections.

At the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, PAC Kingston Limited has requested an adjustment in the funds paid over to AAJ from gross revenues

Again, AAJ chairman Hart pointed out that this was granted to the concessionaire due to an investment it will be making in the extension of the runway to comply with International Civil Aviation Organization standards.

Work to extend the airport’s runway in Kingston will commence next year, Hart informed Our Today.