GRUPO Aeroportuario del Pacífico, S.A.B. de C.V (Pacific Airport Group or GAP), operator of Jamaica’s two main airports, remains confident in the long-term growth potential of the country’s travel demand.

This was revealed by GAP Chief Executive Officer Raúl Revuelta Musalem on Wednesday’s earnings call. His comments came against the backdrop of Hurricane Melissa which saw air traffic decline 34 per cent in the fourth quarter (October to December). GAP manages the operations of Sangster International Airport (SIA) with its subsidiary MBJ Airports Limited and Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) with its subsidiary PAC Kingston Airports Limited (PACKAL).

“We remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of the Jamaica market and its overall structural growth potential,” Revuelta said in his remarks.

GAP noted in its recently released Q4 report that revenue at MBJ Airports fell 42 per cent to MXN$450.27 million (US$24.58 million), equivalent to approximately $3.89 billion. MBJ’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) also dipped 36 per cent to MXN$204.21 million (US$11.15 million). MBJ handles more than 70 per cent of Jamaica’s air traffic.

While there was some damage to gates 1-5 at SIA, the CEO noted that there was no material damage at either airport. However, he noted that 70 per cent of the hotel capacity was affected in the region surrounding SIA. There are more than 20,000 hotel rooms along the Ocho Rios to Negril corridor.

“On a positive note, the recovery of total capacity as well as tourism infrastructure across the region has been better than expected. While the actual timing of a full normalization remains unclear, the Minister of Tourism has indicated that hotel capacity is expected to return to 100% by the upcoming 2026 winter season,” the GAP CEO added on the recovery.

Pacific Airport Group’s CEO remains confident in Jamaica’s growth prospects.

This is the second major event in five years that has affected the earning potential of both Jamaican airports. The Jamaican Government renegotiated the concession earned for both airports in 2024 whereby MBJ’s concession period was extended by a year to March 2034 while PACKAL’s monthly concession fee was reduced from 62.01 per cent to 53.22 per cent.

The company had committed MXN$1.50 billion (US$78 million) in investments at both airports for 2025. Under its revised capital development program, MBJ Airports is scheduled to invest US$118.1 million between 2026 to 2030 while PACKAL will invest US$85.2 million over the same timeline. MBJ and PACKAL were scheduled to invest US$38.4 million and US$45.8 million in 2026.

Revuelta revealed that the company expected Jamaica to have either no growth or a contraction in air traffic for 2026. However, both Jamaican subsidiaries should see an improvement in 2026 revenue due to the approved adjustment in passenger charges or tariffs for 2026 to 2030. The current fee at MBJ is going up from US$16.47 to US$17.38 in 2026 while Kingston’s fee will go up from US$29.41 to US$38.18.

Passenger charges are a fee levied on each passenger ticket by both airport operators for each departing passenger on an aircraft, excluding infants, transit, and transfer passengers. These fees represented two-thirds of MBJ’s aeronautical revenue in 2024 and two-fifths of PACKAL’s aeronautical revenue.

MBJ handled 4.47 million passengers in 2025 while PACKAL processed 1.84 million passengers. MBJ is run by CEO Shane Munroe while Sitara English-Byfield oversees PACKAL as its CEO.