St. Maarten’s US$117M airport vs. Guyana’s US$150M

Mar 10, 2013 News

In less than four months, Guyana will more than likely start construction on a brand new airport and runway at a cost of US$150M.
With the US$840M Amaila Falls hydro falls project to be the most expensive project ever in Guyana, the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) is set to be third on the list after the US$200M Skeldon factory and modernization project.
It will see longer runways, a two-storey terminal building, passenger

The new Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten.

loading bridges, more check-in counters and concession spaces.
The project, the construction of which is set to last for 32 months, will also allow for a larger apron to park planes and be fully equipped with close circuit television (CCTV), building automation system and several large screen TVs displaying flight information.
But there have been questions as to the costs.

CARIBBEAN AIRPORTS:
There are many competing tourism destinations in the Caribbean. This article will only delve into one…St. Maarten. In the region, within recent years, there have been projects to improve airports.
Perhaps the most fascinating and challenging is the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) of St. Maarten which cost that government US$117M to build.
St. Maarten, just 37-square miles, is one of the smallest islands in the world to be divided and ruled by two nations, France and Holland, and has an overall population of around 80,000. It does not manufacture anything and is solely dependent on tourism.
The airport has made headlines because of its nearness to the sea and is known for images of tourists standing under the planes’ landing wheels at the nearby Maho beach.
This was an ambitious project that included reclaiming land from water (a lagoon), new roadways, a brand new, fully air-conditioned terminal building, new fuel tanks and a new control tower. A new radar system to control flights was also installed.
St. Maarten is targeting 2.5 million tourists to pass through the airport. In 2007, 1.85 million tourists were processed.
The airport is one of the busiest in the region serving as a hub to especially the Eastern Caribbean area.
Daily, there are six American Airlines landings, with flights also being conducted by Delta, Corsair, KLM, Caribbean Airways, Winair and LIAT. On weekends there are numerous charter flights bringing tourists from North America, South America and Europe.
There is hardly space in the peak periods when several private jets would park for days. In fact, private jets are sometimes parked “wing-tips to wing-tips”.
The airport is serviced by 18 airlines, and there is direct service to close to 30 major cities in the US, Europe, Canada and the Caribbean.
There are several other charters from Canada and other travel companies doing business in St. Maarten.
Its new terminal building offers 27,000 square metres (290,000 sq ft) of floor space and is fully air-conditioned. Available facilities include 42 check-in desks, eight transit desks and eleven boarding gates. There are ten immigration booths for arriving passengers and five exit-control booths for departing passengers. The building also features 40 shops and food and beverage units.
PJIA’s background
A master plan was started in 1997. It required that the airport be developed in three phases to accommodate new traffic and improve facilities. Consultants for financing (debt and bonds) and overseeing the instigation of the project involved Standard International Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Berger Group. Investment for the entire project will total US$117M.
The first phase began in 1997 and involved a general refurbishment of the existing terminal and remedial work at the airport. This lasted until 2001.

The proposed terminal building for Guyana.

In 2004, Phase II of the master plan came into action with 98,000m² of land being reclaimed in the Simpson Bay Lagoon.
The additional land was required for the construction of the new terminal building, a new air traffic control tower and radar facility… (there are 90,000 aircraft movements a year to monitor), a new parking structure and the construction of runway extension safety areas of 150m at each end and also new access roads.
Phase II was completed in 2006 with the opening of the new terminal.
The terminal has four jet bridges for easy access from the gate area (11 boarding gates) to departing aircraft. The security area has state-of-the-art explosive screening systems for baggage checks. The terminal also required the construction of 72,500m² of apron space, enough to park nine wide-bodied aircraft.
CJIA’s expansion
In Guyana, according to the CJIA contract, on November 11, 2011, the Ministry of Public Works and Communications and the contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) Limited of Beijing, China, inked the agreement for a Design and Build project to the tune of US$138M. The money is a loan from China’s Export/Import Bank. Guyana will be plugging at least another US$12M to make US$150M.
Under the contract, the primary runway is to be extended 1,066.8 meters, to reach a total length of 3,336.8 meters in order to satisfy the operational requirements of wide-body aircraft. A turning area is to be provided at the end of the extension. Navigation facilities such as lighting are to be installed and a service vehicle lane is to be provided as well as emergency facilities such as fire fighting systems.
Regarding the terminal building, a new two-storey terminal building is proposed to be built west of the existing one, and is to be divided into two parts– the terminal building and the departure lounges/gates and arrival concourse.
On the second floors of the terminal building will be the Departure level with space for airlines’ back-of-counter office space, concessions and security check point (x-ray).
On the first floor (the arrival level), it is planned that there will be baggage make-up rooms (outbound), Immigrations, baggage claim (inbound), Customs, greeters’ lobby, ground transportation, 20 check-in counters and a passenger drop-off zone.
The concourse on the second floor will also house departure lounges with ‘B’ loading bridges and sterile corridors.
Works will also see a new, larger car park, a reconfigured internal roads area, and a bigger handling equipment area.
The project will also see significant land-filling near the runway area to make it longer.
According to the contract, and in justification of the project, the Guyana government said it has identified tourism as a priority in the country’s economic development plan and “recognizes that improvement of CJIA is of paramount importance in order to promote a sustainable tourism industry.”
“The existing airport terminal building is not currently capable of meeting peak traffic demand or of expanding to meet the desired growth in passenger volume. It also cannot accommodate state-of-the-art terminal systems for passenger comforts, convenience and efficiency.
The one storey buildings cannot accommodate aircraft boarding bridges forcing passengers to walk to and from the aircraft along the apron. The ability to generate revenue from concessions, airline office space and ticket counter usage is also extremely limited. Expansion capabilities of the existing terminal are compromised due to current terminal configurations.
Hoping
With the realization of the project, Government is hoping to lower airport operating costs -passenger and cargo; for increased passenger comfort, convenience and efficiency and increased airport efficiencies through more efficient terminal and airfield design as well as state-of-the-art technologies in security screening, communications, baggage handling and other systems, the contract explained.
In justifying the project, government said that Guyana is eyeing opportunities with flights from South and West Africa, Indonesia and Singapore. This will allow wide-body aircraft flights and reduce security risks of drug smuggling at the airport.
China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is the company that has been awarded the contract.
While the Government of Guyana is “hoping” to attract future business from airlines that are currently using more viable routes at this time, the example of St. Maarten illustrates that that island and Government already had the airlifting capacity to justify the investment.
Guyana has also signaled its intentions to attract airlines for re-fuelling business. However, there are no clear indications whether moves are already underway to woo these potential clients.
Another factor in this equation is that Guyana does not have its own fuel supply like Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, which have wells.