Sangster International Airport resumes operations following runway closure

 

The Sangster International Airport, which was closed Thursday morning, has been reopened.

 

This was announced by Sharon Hislop Holt, Manager of Commercial Business Development & Marketing at MBJ Airports Limited, operator of Sangster International. 

 

The runway was reopened about 2:30 p.m. after an issue developed during ongoing extension work that rendered it inoperable. It had been out of service for about seven and a half hours, having been closed at 7 o'clock Thursday morning.

 

"We continued some checks. We worked with the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that the runway was safe for airport operation. We now advise the public that the airport, the runway has reopened," Mrs Hislop Holt declared. 

 

She said of the 52 arriving flights that were scheduled to operate, most were diverted and 12 cancelled. 

 

Arrangements are being made to accomodate passengers left stranded.

 

"For those flights cancelled, arrangements have been made with the passengers. Some airlines have already indicated that they have extra flights operating tomorrow to facilitate those passengers impacted," she advised. 

 

She added that some airlines will still arrive Thursday for departing passengers. 

 

Delano Seiveright, Senior Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, said government officials, tourism stakeholders and airlines are partnering to minimise the fallout from the closure of the runway.

 

"The good thing is the airlines are working closely with us. They are adding additional capacity tomorrow to get persons off the island and get persons who have been stuck overseas into the island. Of course, a number of airlines also have flights operating later today into Montego Bay, which should help the situation."  

 

Mr. Seiveright said the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association is offering assistance to outgoing tourists who had been scheduled to leave the island Thursday. 

 

Frustrated passengers                   

 

Thurday's closure of Sangster International left thousands of passengers frustrated and upset with the management of MBJ Airports.

 

Radio Jamaica News spoke with a Jamaican who was visiting the island, and he accused MBJ of failing to manage the crisis.

 

He said he arrived at the airport at 10:00 a.m. and was only advised late in the afternoon that his flight had been cancelled. 

 

He further complained that he had been placed on another flight for Friday, but that flight - a connecting flight from Jamaica to Houston, then to New York - would leave him travelling "all day", which he insisted "doesn't make any sense".  

 

"Even if I accept that, where is the person to say at least give some sort of assurance. Nobody. This is 2023. This is a country that I vote for, I would die for, and look at 2023 that we're still having this antiquated, outdated system. Hundreds of thousands of people...thousands of bodies just moving, floating around," he said, highlighting the number of stranded passengers at the airport. 

 

Radio Jamaica News was informed that eight flights that were scheduled to land at Sangster International on Thursday were diverted to the Cayman Islands. This has led to an overcrowding of Cayman's Owen Roberts International Airport with authorities struggling to manage the increased passenger-load.