‘Fat Thursday’ as airport sees flights peak, braces for new record

Grantley Adams International Airport recorded its busiest day of the year so far for air-to-sea cruise flights on Thursday – dubbed “Fat Thursday” – with more than 11 planes on the tarmac at once. But chief executive Hadley Bourne predicted an even busier day is on the horizon on December 20, when Seawell expects more than 50 flights just five days before Christmas.

Air-to-sea, or air-cruise, passengers are travellers who either begin or end their cruise in Barbados and use the airport as a gateway to the ship.

Bourne spoke to Barbados TODAY during a media walk-through of the apron designed to show just how intense operations were for staff at the airport. The visit followed an announcement by the minister of tourism and international transport, Ian Gooding-Edghill, that the airport would see around 8 000 passengers pass through on Thursday.

In all, 53 aircraft, excluding cargo and private jets, were handled on the day: 21 scheduled commercial flights, more than 11 dedicated air-to-sea transfers, and several regional services.

“We had everything from TUI’s Thomson brand to Condor, and it went quite smoothly,” Bourne said. “With the advent of the Concorde [facility], we actually facilitated 11 flights through the Concorde; almost seven of them have already gone through, and it is going as expected.”

He stressed that December 20 is shaping up to be even more challenging.

“That’s going to be just ahead of the pre-Christmas rush,” Bourne explained. “So you’ll have a combination of not only commercial traffic, which is the increasing winter traffic for that period, but also the addition of the air-to-sea. So it will make that the busiest day of the year at that point in time.”

The airport boss said the prospect of that day is “very exciting” for staff who have been gearing up for the peak period all year.

“All the things we’ve put in place already for the year and for the season, especially working with all of our stakeholders, I think we’re ready for that day,” he said.

Bourne noted that staff had been trained and seasonal workers brought on earlier than usual so they could become familiar with airport operations during slightly quieter periods.

“I don’t think we really had a down period this season, so the staff were always prepped and ready,” he added. “What we did, as we’ve done over the last two years, is bring on our seasonal staff a bit earlier so that they could become familiar and get in tune with what the airport environment offers, because it’s very dynamic. Especially if you’ve never interacted with passengers or aircraft or handling equipment, it is good to bring you in early. A lot of the stakeholders, along with the airport, would have started bringing in staff from maybe around September or October to get them acclimatised to the environment.”

Bourne acknowledged that the increase in European flights has led to a significant influx of passengers at GAIA, but insisted that with the training provided and the measures put in place, operations have been running smoothly.

Earlier this week, Gooding-Edghill announced that the airport is bracing for unprecedented passenger levels in December, and described December 20 as likely to be the single busiest day in its 87-year history, a “historic occasion” for Barbadian tourism. He has also signalled that Barbados is stepping up efforts to expand its tourism footprint across Europe and points east, with a focus on strengthening airlift from Manchester in the north of England and deepening engagement in eastern Europe.

louriannegraham@barbadostoday.bb