Jamaica to privatize management of airport

KINGSTON - Jamaica plans to privatize the management of the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in the capital city Kingston by 2014, the government has said.

The privatization of the airport's management was first announced in 2009 but had been delayed for several times, a statement from the government released earlier this week said. Transport, Housing and Works Minister Omar Davies has now set next year to complete the process.

The World Bank subsidiary International Finance Corporation (IFC) has been engaged to find a suitable concessionaire to manage the airport, said the minister.

The IFC is to assist with recruiting the requisite financial, legal and technical consultants to facilitate the privatization process, and it would also be conducting the due diligence, review market conditions and analyze, structure, and conclude the transaction process as well as facilitate the competitive bidding process for the privatization of the airport's management, the minister said.

The NMIA is one of the three international airports in Jamaica. The other two are the Sangster International Airport, based in Montego Bay on Jamaica' s northwestern coast and the Ian Fleming International Airport,  in Boscobel on the north coast of the island.

The management of the Sangster airport was privatized in 2003 to the Canadian-based consortium Vancouver Airport Services, which was required to undertake a $190 million upgrade and expansion. Vancouver Airport Services pays an annual concession fee to the Jamaican Government, which is determined by the flow of passengers and cargo that pass through the airport.

The Jamaican government last week similarly requested proposals from private interests to manage as well as undertake an expansion of the Ian Fleming airport. It was officially reopened in 2011 after a $2.15 million transformation from an aerodrome to a gateway for international flights.

More than 72.27 million dollars have been spent by the Airports Authority of Jamaica, a agency of government that oversees the management of the island's airports.

Davies said a Capital Development Plan done in 2004 on NMIA is now being updated and will be used to guide the remaining upgrades of the facility.

About 1.5 million passengers passed through the NMIA in 2012, slightly more than the 1.46 million in 2011.