fp Turks and Caicos

The Providenciales International Airport terminal will get a much needed $10 million face lift to handle more passengers more comfortably during peak tourist season, Turks and Caicos Islands Airport Authority CEO John Smith announced July 31.

“We are embarking on a journey of fundamental change in the way we conduct business and welcome tourists to the Turks and Caicos Islands,” Smith said. “Our terminal expansion project will not only offer better facilities for passengers, but provide us with the room to expand over the next 15 years.”

Work is scheduled to begin later this year and be completed in 2014 to ensure that the airport meets the International Association of Travel Agents criteria for Level C Class facilities.

The terminal will be expanded north into part of the current parking area, increasing the terminal from 51,462 to 92,321 square feet.

The airport expansion began in 2010 with the lengthening of the runway and improvements to aprons, lighting, drainage and security, and the next phase envisioned a bigger terminal with air bridges stretching out to planes on the tarmac. But Smith said that plan had to be scaled back because of finances, and passengers will still have to walk to and from the terminal from their flights.

The authority will pay for terminal improvements from its operational budget and the airport development charge which passengers pay on departure, Smith said.

The project also was expected to have begun sooner.

“Ideally we would have liked it to have begun already, however, there were operational issues that we needed to deal with first,” Smith said. “We had challenges with the fire services, so we needed to deal with that.”

Some airport fire service employees struck in March 2011 and again in March 2012, briefly halting flights to and from the country each time. After the latest strike, 65 firefighters were transferred in May from their government jobs to the authority to improve service and avoid more airport-closing strikes.
With the country’s tourism improving significantly since the recession, the terminal now struggles to handle peak crowds, which also has prevented the addition of some new carriers and flights.

“Now we have the passengers,” Smith said. “We’re at the point where, quite frankly, we are finding it difficult — bordering on impossible — to accept additional interests to operate … during our peak periods. We just don’t have the space to accommodate them.”

The project will be tendered for bids in the next 4-6 weeks, Smith said.

The first phase of works will include the construction of a new traffic circulation system, an extension to the existing west car park, and extension of the departure lounge.

The second phase will continue with the extension of the international check in area, security check point as well as the arrivals hall.

The third and final phase will include the domestic departures and arrivals area, completion of car park and aesthetics, including water features.

While the project will create construction jobs, only a minimal increase in terminal jobs — perhaps 2-3 percent — will be created once it is complete, Smith said.

“Providenciales International Airport is absolutely crucial to the islander and visitor experience,” said His Excellency the Gov. Ric Todd. “First impressions are vital, and I am certain that this work will provide the level of experience that our visitors demand.

“People who use the airport facilities know that it can become crowded at peak times — so does the airport’s management. That is why they have been planning these crucial works as part of their overall master plan which also saw the runway expansion completed last year.”