Ian Fleming airport draining public purse, ATI request reveals

7:41 pm, Wed April 4, 2018

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Even as ground has been broken for the upgrade of Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St. Mary, there are fresh concerns about the facility's ability to earn and attract its target clientele.

Through an access to information request, RJR News has new details on the seven year old facility, showing it has been a significant drain on the public purse.

When RJR News made the ATI request on February 6, 2017, it was initially denied.

In a letter signed by Airports Authority Jamaica President Audley Deidrick, RJR News was informed "the divulgence of information relating to passenger and aircraft movements as well as revenue and cost of the operation may negatively prejudice certain commercial discussions in which the AAJ was currently engaged."

RJR News subsequently began the process for the matter to be heard before the appeal tribunal, however, the AAJ had a change of heart, and so the documents were received on Tuesday.

On January 12, 2011, when the Boscobel Aerodrome was rebranded the Ian Flemming International Airport, renovation cost more than $300 million.

The target market of the facility was high end tourists.

There were great expectations of foreign nationals flying in and out of the facility on private jets, mirroring scenes of the famed James Bond series, which were created by the man the airport is named after.

But the figures of the access to information requested from the Airport Authority of Jamaica tell a different tale about the aircraft and passenger traffic at the facility over a five year period from 2013 to 2017.

In 2013, the number of international passengers arriving at Ian Flemming International Airport stood at 144, while the number of domestic arrivals was 792.

In 2014, there was an improvement with passenger numbers rising to 299 and domestic arrivals totalling 766.

By 2016, both international and domestic arrivals dipped - 264 and 619 passengers, respectively.

Finally in 2017, there was a further decline with 241 international passengers arriving at Ian Flemming to 428 domestic passengers.

It was in 2016, that government announced the expansion of the facility. Ground for the $65 million project was broken last week.

For the five year period 2013 to 2017, some 5,209 aircraft landed at the airport while there were 5,206 aircraft departures.

Also for the period, Airports Authority of Jamaica spent a total of $380 million to operate the airport.

The earnings on the other hand totalled $33.5 million.

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