Grantley Adams International Airport is bracing for unprecedented passenger levels this December, as tourism officials expect the single busiest day in its history on December 20 —a milestone the minister for civil aviation, Ian Gooding-Edghill, called a “historic occasion”.
As the airport prepares for its busiest day for the year so far on “Fat Thursday”, when around 8 000 passengers are expected to pass through, Gooding-Edghill cautioned to brace for a record-breaking day in December, which comes five days into the official winter tourist season.
But as he spoke to reporters following a tour of Seawell, he did not reveal the precise number of aircraft and passengers for December.
He said: “On December 20, it will be the busiest day in the history of Grantley Adams International Airport operations and therefore I have to thank not only those who work at the airport, but all of those who are involved in aviation for helping us to even accomplish that milestone.”
“Fat Thursday” will see 53 aeroplanes, not counting cargo and private jets, landing: 21 commercial flights, along with more than 19 air-to-sea transfers and regional carriers, Gooding-Edghill said.
He also pointed to air-to-cruise port operations, with five flights to Germany alone on Thursday from carriers Discover Airlines, Condor and TUI.
The surge in arrivals reflects a historic expansion of services, including double daily flights from the United Kingdom, he suggested. “We have a historic occasion where we have double dailies from both UK-based carriers coming across the Atlantic, and we are building out even more facilities in terms of expanded airlift from the United States.”
The current expansion reflects a broader strategy to reduce seasonality in tourism and build sustainable airlift capacity, he said. “Prior to 2023, there were no double dailies coming across the Atlantic from the United Kingdom for the winter season. We have double dailies for the winter season and during the very busy Easter period, there are an additional eight flights that will be put on coming from the United Kingdom to support the demand for the Easter travel period next year.”
The tourism and international transport minister also cited Delta and American Airlines as examples of airlines extending services beyond the traditional winter season, along with the introduction of larger aircraft by Air Canada to strengthen connections from Canada. “We will again be going to the airlines to meet with them to drive even more air traffic to our destination Barbados.”
Gooding-Egdhill said the increase in traffic would be supported by seasonal staff employed by the two main handling services, Caribbean Aircraft Handling and Goddard Catering Group, with more than 100 extra temporary workers being hired for the winter season.
He stressed the importance of efficiency in managing the high volume of flights and passengers. “Staff and the additional seasonal staff is to ensure that we have the efficiency required and the manpower,” he said. (SZB)
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