LPIA moves to expand non-aeronautical revenue
Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) has seen great interest in companies hoping to set up retail space in the U.S. departures terminal within the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), as moves to expand non-aeronautical revenues take off.
NAD Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jan Knowles told Guardian Business yesterday that NAD has been pleased with the response after it put out an expression of interest (EOI) for duty-free retail within the airport.
The EOI allowed NAD to gain an understanding of the level of interest in providing retail services for New Providence’s airport and “it is pretty obvious that the level of interest in doing business with the airport is there,” said Knowles.
Request for proposals for an airport hotel will also be issued
NAD President and CEO Vernice Walkine revealed recently that the company will also issue a request for proposals within the first quarter of this year for a small airport hotel.
The expression of interest for more duty-free retail within the U.S. departures terminal closed on Friday; the request for proposal process is expected to commence soon.
Walkine said NAD continues to evolve to meet demands for additional flights due to an increase in the country’s hotel room inventory.
“As an airport we are working with all of our partners at the Ministry of Tourism, the promotion boards and the two large properties, Atlantis and Baha Mar, to make sure we can get additional flights coming in to meet the demand these rooms represent, so it’s a very exciting time for all of us, quite frankly, and I think that 2018 is looking to be a very good year,” Walkine said last month at an American Airlines reception.
More duty-free products will be offered in the US terminal
LPIA has undergone numerous changes in the past few years; the old domestic departures terminal continues to sit as a dilapidated eyesore. However, with the request for proposals for an on-site hotel in the works, that area could begin to be transformed in the near future.
Walkine said with the expectation of an increasing number of departures bound for the U.S., LPIA will expand its duty-free retail offering within the second or third quarter of 2018.
“We recognized, particularly in the area of duty-free retail, we were underserved so we’re looking for some available spaces within the terminal where we can offer more duty-free products, so that’s very exciting for us because we know that’s a real revenue earner for airports,” she said.
Source: Nassau Guardian
