The Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston will close at 8:00pm Saturday or whenever the last flight takes place, as Jamaica remains under a hurricane watch with Tropical Storm Melissa moving closer to the country’s southern coast.

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz provided the update this morning, during a special media briefing at Jamaica House. He said while it was indicated that both NMIA and the Sangster’s International Airport in Montego Bay would remain open for today’s scheduled flights, that plan has been adjusted.

“Subsequent to that, I’ve had a discussion with the Airports Authority [of Jamaica] before coming here, and a decision has been taken to close Norman Manley International Airport after the last flight which is scheduled to arrive in Jamaica at 8:00pm tonight.

“We would categorise it as 8:00pm or the last arriving flight. So, if the flight is delayed for any reason, it will be accommodated but all flights will be accommodated today at both Norman Manley International Airport and Sangster International,” said Vaz, who also had some advice for persons still wishing to travel.

“My recommendation for those of you who want to get back to Jamaica or to get out of Jamaica, try and change your arrangements to get out today,” he said. He shared that a meeting will be held at 2:00 this afternoon to discuss the closure of the Sangster International Airport. The country will be notified of the closing time following the meeting.

Vaz said this was important for many reasons: “Both for our locals to get in and get out, but also for our tourism industry.

“As we speak now they are trying, the hotels are in communication through the Ministry of Tourism, to communicate with the airlines to make sure that they increase their capacity loads in terms of the different  planes and configurations, to try and get out as many of those that have been vacationing in Jamaica and want to get out obviously before the storm or the hurricane [hits]”.