Steep fall off in passenger load blamed on COVID-19
Barbados has put the brakes on its planned privatisation of the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) via a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
This is due to the fact that there has been a steep decline in passenger load through the airport as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
GAIA project coordinator, Gale Yearwood has confirmed the delay to the airport’s planned privatisation.
Speaking in an interview with BNamericas, Yearwood reported that, “the government of Barbados, GAIA Inc. and its advisers took the decision to review the transaction to ensure that it meets the needs of and remains attractive to the shortlisted bidders, government, GAIA Inc., and other key stakeholders”.
The Mia Mottley administration had prequalified 13 bidders from Canada, Europe, Latin America and South Korea vying to manage the airport through a 30-year concession arrangement.
Jamaican entities among bidders
Among the bidders are companies such as Jamaica’s Eppley and Jamaica Producers Group, which have formed a consortium with France’s EGIS, while Jamaica’s Williams Industries has joined a consortium with France’s Vinci. The other bidders include Mexican operators OMA and GAP.
Yearwood reported that the delay is positive as the players involved gain time to assess tourism trends. He further told BNamericas that, “the intended effect is that Barbados will still realize benefits from the PPP while the macroeconomic factors involved are taken into consideration.”
According to Yearwood, “we are not operating in normal times. This pandemic has had such a global impact on the aviation and financial sectors, and the wider commercial sectors such as tourism and retail that the pre-COVID-19 structure of the transaction no longer pertains”.
In a statement last week, GAIA pointed to what it described as the “new realities” in the aviation industry, which the airport would be operating. Yearwood said these realities involve changes to the airport and the aviation industry, resulting from the pandemic, which, based on forecasts, will affect passenger numbers for some years”.
The UN World Tourism Organization has reported that Caribbean destinations experienced a 67 per cent fall in international tourist arrivals in 2020 compared to the previous year.
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