EXPRESS Catering Limited (ECL) has seen an uptick in passenger travel at Sangster International Airport, resulting in heightened activity for the food and beverages provider. While over the summer period in 2020 (May 1 to July 31) the Sangster International Airport hub in which the company operates saw only 39,197 arriving passengers, these numbers have multiplied almost ten times in 2021 as air travel recovers.

The number of passengers arriving has increased, rising to 405,067 and representing an over 90 per cent increase compared to the prior year. Chief executive officer (CEO) of Express, Ian Dear told the Jamaica Observer, “Many of our outlets performed at a high level over the summer. Our casual dining units, Airville 1, Bobsled Café and Airville 2 all did well, along with Wendy’s leading in our QSR [quick service restaurant] venues. We also saw an increase in the ‘Grab and Go’ segment in Island Deli, and our Viva gourmet locations were top performers.”

He said the rise in transiting passengers is mainly attributed to the opening of the US market for travel, in addition to the major airlines — American, Delta, Jet Blue, United, Spirit, Frontier and Southwest — resuming flights from their respective hub cities to Jamaica. In addition, he outlined the return of airlines WestJet, Air Canada, TUI, Condor and Virgin Atlantic over the summer period. There was also a new route introduced this summer from Montego Bay to Zurich, Switzerland, operated by Edelweiss Air.

Express Catering, incorporated in June 2001, is headquartered at Montego Freeport, Montego Bay, St James. Its main operations are branded sports bars and over 30 restaurants at Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay. The company is a subsidiary of Margaritaville St Lucia Inc, whose ultimate parent is Margaritaville Caribbean Group Ltd, a company registered under The Bahamas’ IBC Act of 2000.

For the May to June 2021 period, departures rose nearly 25 per cent while arrivals also climbed by the same margin, year over year. June to July 2021 departures rose 11.27 per cent, with a 17.72 per cent increase in arrivals over 2020. Dear told the Business Observer, “As the figures indicate, passenger counts have surpassed 2020 numbers for the summer but we are still looking to regain the momentum that we had in 2019. The company has, meanwhile, adjusted operating hours to be able to effectively meet the demands of guests, he stated.

Express Catering operates the food and beverage outlets which fall under parent company Margaritaville. It runs international food and beverage franchises such as Quiznos Subs, American Dairy Queen (DQ Grill and Chill), Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Cinnabon, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Wendy’s, Domino’s Pizza and Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs. Dear outlines, “Our service standards have remained consistent, even with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols in place. These include removing tables and chairs for social distancing; installing sanitiser stations [and] Plexiglass shields for front line cashiers; training of our team members on COVID-19 protocols; and seeing to the general welfare of all our stakeholders.” He explained that the company is updated on projected arrivals “and so we always put in the necessary resources to handle the projected increase in passenger/guest counts. Of course, any increase in passenger count which results in captured sales will have a positive impact on our bottom line.”

Dear said he expects this momentum to continue based on reports from the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, JHTA, noting, “Of course, all of this is predicated on the COVID-19 variants and [the] effect on source countries, along with Jamaica as host country. That being said, we remain very optimistic with the current growth of tourism arrivals trajectory.”

For the financial year ended May 31, 2021 revenue for Express Catering declined to US$14 million, compared to US$17.3 million the year before, due to the fall-off in travel under conditions caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The net result was total comprehensive income of US$1.6 million at year end May 2021, this compared to US$3.7 million at May 31, 2020.