To support a near-tripling of visitor arrivals at Sangster International Airport (SIA) over the next decade, president and CEO of the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) Audley Deidrick has announced plans for the construction of a brand-new passenger terminal projected to cost approximately US$750 million.

Speaking during a panel discussion on the opening day of JAPEX 2025, now underway in Montego Bay, St James, Deidrick said the AAJ continues to strategically expand airport infrastructure to meet the rising demands of Jamaica’s growing tourism and travel market.

Plans for the new SIA terminal, he said, are actively in progress, with long-term goals to accommodate significantly increased tourist traffic through to 2053.

“Construction of the new SIA terminal development is forecasted to be about US$750 million or just about three quarters of a billion dollars. We initially considered building an additional terminal to operate alongside the existing one, but efficiency, cost, and operational concerns led us to decide on constructing an entirely new, modern, state-of-the-art terminal,” Deidrick told the Jamaica Observer in a follow-up interview.

He indicated that ongoing expansion of the current immigration and security halls will continue to support current traffic through to 2034. However, the scale of anticipated growth demands earlier planning and investment.

“We cannot wait until 2034 to begin construction. The planning and necessary arrangements must start now,” he noted.

Once the new terminal is complete, the existing facility is expected to be repurposed for other operational uses. An airport terminal typically houses all the facilities that enable passengers to transition between ground transportation and aircraft. This includes areas for ticketing, baggage handling, security screening, and boarding gates. Terminals often include zones for waiting, shopping, dining, and may be structured to separate domestic and international flights, or serve specific airlines exclusively.

The new terminal is being designed with capacity to handle up to 15 million passengers annually, a 10-million increase over current capabilities. Deidrick said that more than two-thirds of this projected traffic will come from the tourism sector.

“At present, over 80 per cent of Jamaica’s aviation traffic is tourism-driven. For Sangster International, which is located in the country’s main tourism belt, that figure is even higher, accounting for over 95 per cent,” he said while noting that, by contrast, Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston, which primarily services “visiting friends and relatives” (VFR) traffic, records tourism figures at around 35-40 per cent of its total arrivals.

Due to a more modest growth outlook for NMIA, Deidrick further said there are no immediate plans for terminal expansion there. He, however, acknowledged that tourism-related developments in the eastern region of the island could change that outlook. “If those developments come on stream, then NMIA could shift into expansion mode.”

The SIA expansion also aligns with the upcoming renegotiation of the airport’s concession agreement. SIA is currently operated by MBJ Airports Limited, a subsidiary of Mexico-based Pacific Airport Group, under a concession set to expire in March 2034. NMIA, also managed by a Pacific Airport Group subsidiary — PAC Kingston Airport Limited (PACKAL) — has a concession lasting until October 2044.

“The current concession agreement for SIA has just under 10 years remaining. As part of the new terminal planning, we’re also looking to determine whether to establish a new concession with the present operator or a new one. This is currently under review by a government-appointed enterprise team tasked with making recommendations,” Deidrick further said to the Business Observer.

Providing update on another major investment, Deidrick said that the planned airport at the Little London site near Negril is also being prepared to welcome a new facility capable of accommodating larger Boeing 737 aircraft. Tied closely to projected hotel room expansion in western Jamaica — from Trelawny through to Westmoreland — the proposed airport is being positioned to serve growing tourism demand in that region.

“The traffic forecast that we have, based on very conservative numbers and current hotel room stocks in that area, is that it could grow to about a million passengers in 10 years,” Deidrick said.

Commenting on a possible timeline for completion for the Greenfield project, he said it is now in the early stages of development. “Between master planning phase into business planning to development and implementation phase, we could see between five to seven years before the first plane lands there.”

Alongside investments in airport infrastructure, Director of Tourism Donovan White further outlined several major tourism projects now underway. These include the recent opening of Princess Grand in Hanover, which added 1,000 rooms, and RIU Palace Aquarelle in Trelawny, which added another 753 rooms. The upcoming Moon Palace Grande, scheduled to open in 2027/28, will contribute an additional 1200 rooms.

Also on the horizon are the opening of Unico hotel by RCD Hotels in Montego Bay and also a casino development by Princess Grand in 2026, both of which are expected to widen the economic prospects for the industry.

“The value of the approximately 15,000 to 20,000 new rooms slated for construction over the next five to 10 years is estimated at US$5 billion,” White said during his presentation at the opening of the JAPEX conference.

DEIDRICK…construction of the new SIA terminal development is forecasted to be about US$750 million or just about three quarters of a billion dollars

Prime Minister Andrew Holness (centre) is joined by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett (third right) during the ground-breaking exercise for the Unico Hotel development i Montego Bay which is slated to add more than 400 new hotel rooms locally.